The Lake George Historical Association and Bateaux Below erected this historic marker in 1993. It stands behind the Old Courthouse Building in the Town of Lake George (Photograph courtesy of Joseph W. Zarzynski / Bateaux Below, Inc.).

History of the Lake George's Sunken Fleet of 1758

In the autumn of 1758, British and provincial (colonial) troops at Lake George began a systematic and deliberate sinking of their fleet to protect the vessels over the winter of 1758-1759 from marauding French and their Native American allies. Since Fort William Henry had been destroyed in 1757, the British were without a fortress to protect their warships over the winter. Thus, the British sank 260 bateaux, two radeaux (floating gun batteries), the sloop Earl of Halifax, some row galleys, and other vessels. This action protected the British warships. In the summer of 1759, over 200 sunken warships were raised and used in the successful British campaign in the Champlain Valley that same year that helped Britain win the French and Indian War (1754-1763). Underwater archaeological fieldwork over the past half-century indicates as many as four dozen vessels from "The Sunken Fleet of 1758" were never recovered from the lake.

This computer-generated image shows bateaux shortly after they were sunk in 1758 (Image by John Whitesel; courtesy of Pepe Productions).



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