USS Philadelphia

1776

• 1 History of USS Philadelphia
• 2 USS Philadelphia Specification
  • 2.1 Basic
  • 2.2 Roles
  • 2.3 Dimensions
  • 2.4 Weight
  • 2.5 Performance
  • 2.6 Performance
  • 2.7 Armor
  • 2.8 Wing

History of USS Philadelphia

USS Philadelphia served with the U.S. Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War - a war between the Thirteen Colonies and the British Empire. The ship was designed as a gondola (gunboat) and therefore had a shallow draft for navigating coastal waterways and the US river network. She was built in Skensboro, New York, along with six other gunships of similar design, and deployed half of the Continental Navy's total force on Lake Champlain a strategic water area on the U.S.-Canada border between New York and Vermont.

The lake also provides access to the city of Montreal, Canada.

The hull of the USS Philadelphia was laid in July 1776 and launched only a month later. When she was finished, she was measured at 57 feet, with a beam of 17 feet from bow to stern and a draft of only 2 feet. The top-down cutaway shows a very wide hull with a mast mounted forward amidships. In ideal conditions, she has a top speed of 4 knots and carries 45 officers and sailors. Displacement is 29 tons (long).

The armament consisted of mixed guns, guided by a 12-pounder main gun, supplemented by 2 x 9-pounder guns and 4 1 x 1-pounder guns (the latter on a swivel). At four knots, she is a slow boat, notoriously slow in the water and lacking the agility needed to make sharp turns in combat.

Shallow draft quality is good when sailing in shallow waters, but proves to be a hindrance in rough seas.

On October 11, 1776, the USS Philadelphia joined the front west of Valcourt Island, west of Lake Champlain, with the fleet under the full command of General Benedict Arnold (Philadelphia under the direct command of Benjamin Lue). The American fleet was attacked by the numerically superior Royal Navy fleet, and there was a heavy exchange of fire (marking the Battle of Valcourt Island).

Philadelphia was hit directly by a British 24-pounder at her waterline, forcing her to accept the water and eventually sink where she struggled. Her surviving crew was rescued by American ships and migrated south to Patton Moder Sound, Vermont.

The Continental Fleet suffered devastating losses that daymany of its ships were sunk or captured, while others burned until dawn.

15 Continental Navy warships carrying 500 sailors encounter a British army of 25 ships, nearly 700 sailors and 1,000 soldiers, supported by some 650 Indians. Eleven American warships were missing, 120 were captured, and 80 were killed or wounded.

The British lost three ships and saw 40 dead and wounded.

This was the end of the USS Philadelphia's sailing career, to say the least, which marked a very brief career on the water. It was not until the 1930s that her body was finally found and the operation to raise her was performed (this was in 1935).

Her torso is now part of an exhibit at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

USS Philadelphia Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Wing