USS Spitfire (1776 Gunboat) - Action at Valcour Island

Action At Valcour Island

The British fleet had started making its way south on October 9. The fleet, under command of Thomas Pringle, consisted of one ship sloop, three schooners, one radeau, and over twenty gunboats. A small fleet of flat bottomed boats and bateaus carrying the British army followed. Pringle had imperfect intelligence of Arnold's whereabouts, and had sailed past Valcour Island before seeing the American fleet at anchor in the strait between the island and the mainland. However, the British fleet now had to sail against the prevailing north winds to reach the American fleet. The British gunboats, using their oars, were able to get into action quickly, with only sporadic help from the other British warships.(Nelson 2006:293ff)

The American fleet was anchored across the southern part of the strait in a crescent shaped line. Arnold had hoped that the British would initially bypass him and be forced to claw their way against the wind in order to attack. On that count he was successful, and the day was primarily a battle between the gunboats on the British side and the schooners, galleys, and gunboats on the American side. By the end of the day the Americans lost one schooner, the Royal Savage. A gunboat, the Philadelphia, was so damaged that she sank that evening. All the other boats, including the Spitfire, were damaged. (Nelson 2006:299ff)

Arnold decided that, due to the battered condition of his fleet and the lack of ammunition, he would withdraw south to Fort Ticonderoga. His fleet was able to slip past the British on the night of October 11-12. The following morning the British fleet, surprised to find the Americans gone, initiated a pursuit. This pursuit lasted over the next two days. In the end, only one galley, two schooners, the sloop and one gunboat survived to reach the fort. (Nelson 2006:310ff) Although the battle was a defeat for the Americans, it ultimately paved the way for a decisive American victory the next year at Saratoga.

The Spitfire initially made its way south with the rest of Arnold's fleet towards Schuyler Island on the night of October 11-12. There the fleet halted to make repairs before resuming its flight toward Fort Ticonderoga. The Spitfire, however, succumbed to battle damage and was abandoned, sinking in the early morning hours of October 12 in deep water off Schuyler Island. The wreck lay undisturbed until 1997, when its intact remains were discovered during a survey by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.