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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

Enterprise (I)

Sloop:
  • A British supply sloop, captured, 18 May 1775, at St. Johns, Quebec, Canada, by Colonel B. Arnold
  • Renamed Enterprise, and armed for use on Lake Champlain
  • On 28 August 1775, Enterprise and other vessels embarked more than 1,000 troops as part of an expedition against St. Johns, Montreal, and Quebec, British reinforcements forced the Americans to withdraw from Canada in the spring of 1776
  • Enterprise and the other craft sailed to Isle aux Noix in the Richelieu River where they waited while Arnold directed the building of a fleet at Ticonderoga and Skenesborough (Whitehall)
  • On 11 October 1776 at Valcour Island, near Plattsburg, N.Y. Arnold chose the site and deployed to await the British advance. Though markedly inferior in firepower, Arnold's fleet fought a valiant and effective action all day long, then slipped through the British line after dark. A running battle took place over the next 2 days, and resulted in the loss of all but five of the American ships
  • Enterprise and four others escaped to Crown Point, then sailed on to Ticonderoga, although a tactical defeat, Valcour Island was nevertheless a great strategic victory for the Americans. Arnold's little fleet so disrupted the British invasion into New York that it was nearly a year before the advance could be renewed
  • During the British advance prior to the Battle of Saratoga, Enterprise was one of five vessels assigned to duty convoying bateaux in the evacuation of Ticonderoga. The small American force was no match for the British fleet on Lake Champlain, and after two ships had been captured, Enterprise and the other two were run aground on 7 July 1777, and burned to prevent their capture
    Specifications:
    Displacement 70 t.
    Length unknown
    Beam unknown
    Depth of Hold unknown
    Draft unknown
    Speed unknown
    Complement 50
    Armament
    twelve 4-pdr guns
    ten swivel guns
    Propulsion sail
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    C0ngress (I) 27k Undated image of the galley Congress (I) with the sloop-of-war Enterprise (I) and other ships at the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain New York, 11-13 October 1776.
    Navy image from "The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships"    		 Robert Hurst
    Royal Savage
    098655804    		 101k A Sketch of the New England Armed Vessels, in Valcure Bay on Lake Champlain as seen in the morning of 11 October 1776. Contemporary artwork by C. Randle, depicting the Continental squadron, under Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, just before the Battle of Valcour Island. The vessels shown include schooner Royal Savage (center) and (from left to right around Royal Savage):
    schooner Revenge (I),
    galley Washington (II),
    gondola Philadelphia (I),
    galley Congress (I),
    gondola Jersey,
    galley Lee (II),
    gondola Boston (I) (in the middle, largely hidden behind Royal Savage's sails),
    galley Spitfire,
    gondola New Haven (I),
    gondola Providence (I),
    gondola Connecticut (I),
    gondola New York (I) ,
    sloop Enterprise (I) and
    galley Trumbull (I).
    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # NH 92864     		Robert Hurst
    Enterprise (I)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 6 May 2022