Something for the naval history buffs

[10X 3,306]

I've been an avid wreck diver for many years, and this past weekend, I had the opportunity to dive on the oldest intact naval warship in North America.

The radeau "Land Tortoise" was built in 1758 by the British during the French and Indian wars...so it predates our Navy, and it predates the US.  The radeau was a larger version of the bateaux, which were simple flat bottom boats build by the hundreds as the war raged along Lake Champlain and Lake George.  Bateaux mostly carried troops, could be used as small gun platforms, and were light enough to be transported overland.  The radeau was a different beast, 50 feet long, 18 feet wide, propelled by 26 oars, with ports for 7 cannon.  The model in the photo shows what it looked like; the angular, sloping sides were intended to deflect cannon fire.

It was common to sink the bateaux when winter approached, to prevent them from falling into enemy hands, or being crushed when the lakes froze.   They'd fill them with rocks and sink them close to shore, then they would be re-floated in the spring.   The remains of a few bateaux that weren't recovered can still be found in the shallows of lake George.   The sinking of the Land Tortoise on Oct 22, 1758--just two days after it was commissioned--didn't work out as well.  That huge flat bottom caused the sinking boat to hydroplane, and it came to rest nearly a mile offshore, in 109 feet of water.

It was finally located in 1990--the guy who found it briefly ran a SCUBA shop in Mercer county, where I had met him--but he soon decided his real interest was in hunting shipwrecks.   There is a short video linked on this page that shows what it looks like now:  265-year-old sunken warship

Diving the site is by permit only, and generally groups have to be accompanied by a guide, though that was waived for our group.   Visibility, unfortunately, was poor due to an algae bloom in the lake, so it was quite dark on the bottom and visibility with even the largest lights was perhaps 10 feet.   Since the radeau is a national historic landmark, divers aren't allowed to get close--there is literally a chain suspended on posts around the entire perimeter of the wreck, about 5' out from the hull, and divers have to stay outside that perimeter.   It is also pretty cold on the bottom...43-44F  yesterday, and those mid-August temperatures are the warmest it ever gets at that depth.  That's good for the wreck, though...the cold and low oxygen levels have done an incredible job of preserving the wreck.  It is almost perfectly intact, there is virtually no growth on it.  it looks like it could have been sunk earlier this year.  It was a real treat to get to see it.

 

[Displaced Texan 11,757]

That’s pretty damn cool!!! Thanks for the little history lesson. 

[bennj 215]

That is really interesting, especially the sinking/refloating. We've been to the Lake George region several times, but the closest I've gotten to a dive was an evening ride on the steamboat. Was the dive shop in Mercer on Rt 33 in Hamilton Twp.?

[10X 3,306]

14 minutes ago, bennj said:

That is really interesting, especially the sinking/refloating. We've been to the Lake George region several times, but the closest I've gotten to a dive was an evening ride on the steamboat. Was the dive shop in Mercer on Rt 33 in Hamilton Twp.?

I'd been to that one (I mostly used Langs, then later Treasure Cove, and now Elite Divers, depending on where I was living at the time.   It was the old Princeton SCUBA shop that he purchased, and subsequently shut down.