A veteran of the American Revolutionary War, the Philadelphia is the oldest
intact warship on display in North America. After its recovery from the
bottom of Lake Champlain in 1935, the fifty-four foot long vessel, armed
with three cannon and eight swivel guns, was moved to the National
Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution.

   The Philadelphia testifies to the heroic struggle between a hastily built
fleet of American warships and an overwhelmingly superior British fleet on
Lake Champlain in 1776. Although the Americans were defeated and the
Philadelphia was sunk, the shipbuilding race and naval contest of which the
gondola was a part delayed the British invasion, giving the Americans time
to muster a defense that resulted in the British defeat at Saratoga in 1777.
 
    In this work, John R. Bratten details the gunboat's history, construction,
armament, tools, utensils, personal items, and rigging elements. Through
his careful analysis, Bratten offers modern readers a glimpse of the naval
battles that ultimately helped to win the independence of our democratic
nation.

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JOHN R. BRATTEN is a nautical archaeologist and conservator at the
Archaeology Institute of the University of West Florida. He lives in Pace,
Florida.


Number Six: Studies in Nautical Archaeology