The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Battle of Lake Champlain - 1775 - Feb. 13th, 2003

http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/E/champlain/champxx.htm ^ | Stephen Ray

[SAMWolf]

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The Battle of Lake Champlain

Introduction:
Weak Against the Strong

The Battle of Lake Champlain is a jewel to contemplate. It is a battle of the weak against the strong, the farmer against the professional soldier. This battle shows what a small, untrained group of men can do to a large, trained navy, during the heat of combat. It portrays a kind father trying to be gentle to a rebellious child, and what that child can do. Sir Guy Carleton, the British commander, could have annihilated the rebels in the lakes area many times but did not. As Carleton slowly built his fleet for the coming campaign season, he allowed Benedict Arnold, the commander of the rebels, to do the same. Arnold was able to accomplish this only after persuading Congress not to abandon New York north of Albany. At this point, the morale of the rebels was so low that Carleton could have easily invaded and cut New England from the rest of the colonies, but he didn’t.



On the 11th, Arnold disregarded the orders of Horatio Gates, the rebel commander of the Northern department, which included “not ‘assume wanton risk’ nor to ‘make a display’ of his power.” . It was originally Gates’ plan to keep the fleet for defensive and offensive measures in the future. Arnold, however, was unable to resist the temptation of using the fleet he built to fight the British. Royal Savage and Enterprise were sent as decoys to lure British to the main body of the American fleet. The day was clear and the wind was out of the North. Lady Maria was at the lead of the British fleet. Had Carleton sent out reconnoiters, the British could have known exactly where the rebels were hiding. Lady Maria passed Valcour Island at full sail, and completely missed the rebel fleet hiding in the strait between the island and the mainland. Indians in league with the British began a musket fire at the rebels from the Island, but were out of effective range. Arnold had four hours to arrange his fleet as the British tried desperately to turn around and face the rebel fleet, but they hadn’t expected to meet the Americans so soon and the wind was against them. Due to Chief of Operations Capt. Pringle’s mismanagement, the smaller boats got into range before the bigger boats. However, a few British bateaux and the Carleton were able to conquer the wind and moved (without orders) towards the enemy fleet.

The Battle begins

As the tension mounted, the rebel fleet sent out the Congress (Arnold’s flagship), Royal Savage, and two other gondolas. Carleton ran through the British line and dropped anchor. A broadside was initiated by the Carleton and the battle was begun at 11:00. According to a contemporary London Gazette, the Carleton was commanded by Lt. Dacres, who after the battle, would win recognition from Sir Guy Carleton and Capt. Pringle for his bravery upon engaging five rebel ships at once and refusing to retreat (against orders) until the General’s own representative came aboard with orders to desist. Dacres was severely wounded during the first broadside by the rebel galleys, and was assisted to his cabin. When Dacres reached his quarters, he found the first mate (Mr. Brown), having the remains of a mangled arm being amputated by the ship’s doctor. With Dacres and Brown wounded, teenager Edward Pellew, the youngest officer on the ship, was quickly forced to learn to be a captain. The Carleton was being riddled by the rebel barrage. At least half the crew was wounded, and there was two foot of water in the hold.

Finally the flagship Lady Maria signaled the Carleton get out of range. The Carleton tried to acknowledge the return to line signal, but a fouled jib prevented the ship from turning. Recklessly exposing himself to the American’s grape shot and rifle fire, Pellew climbed the rigging and freed the jib. Pellew went down to the bobstays to pass a hawser to Isis and to a boat from the Blonde so these two ships could tow the Carleton out of range of the rebels cannonade. Carleton badly riddled from the fire of Royal Savage, Congress, Enterprise, and the other gondola. These ships would come into range of the Carleton, fire, and then fall back to the lines to reload. The finest of their ragtag fleet, the Royal Savage, turned upstream but was delayed due to poor seamanship. Such a chance could not be passed up, so Inflexible broadsided her. The crew, in a panic, rammed the ship into the South end of Valcour Island. Lt. Longcraft, commanding the Loyal Convert, didn’t want to see such a prize go to waste and seized the grounded Royal Savage. Longcraft was able to capture twenty of the crew members who didn’t bolt, and was able to turn the Royal Savage’s guns on the rebel fleet. Longcraft signaled to Pringle for support in capturing the Royal Savage but was ignored. After losing half of his boarding party, Longcraft realized that Pringle wasn’t going to send help. He therefore abandoned the Royal Savage.



General Arnold on the Congress and the other gondolas were able to make it back to the main fleet. At this point, Arnold’s fleet is composed of the 12-gun schooner Royal Savage commanded by Lt. Hawley (now grounded), a ten gun sloop Enterprise ( both of these had been captured by the rebels during an earlier attack on St. John’s the previous May along with thirteen garrison prisoners and three other gondolas), an eight gun schooner Revenge which the rebels had built at Ticonderoga; three eight-gun galleys: Trumbull, commanded by Capt. Warner, Congress, and Washington, all three of which arrived to join Arnold’s fleet around the first of October, a six gun galley Lee, two five gun gondolas: Connecticut and Spitfire, and five 3-gun gondolas: Providence, Philadelphia, commanded by Lt. Rice, Jersey, New York, and Boston. These gondolas had flat bottoms and were fitted with square sails for use in blowing weather and fitted with sweeps for calm weather. Liberty was not in the fight because it had earlier left the fleet to retrieve supplies, but it did see a little action on the night of September 7th. On this occasion, the rebel fleet was off Cumberland Head. A man on the shore called to the Liberty who cautiously responded; a shot was fired from the woods, and three of Liberty’s crew were wounded.

A Missed Opportunity

Sir Guy Carleton’s fleet was composed of the eighteen-gun, three masted (which was something new), Inflexible. Inflexible was being built in Quebec, but wanting the ship for his fleet, Carleton ordered the half-built ship dismantled, transported to St. John’s and rebuilt. Just the rebuilding of this ship occupied the British from September 2nd to September 30th. If Carleton had attacked the Lake instead of waiting for the construction of the Inflexible, he could have caught the rebels off guard and seized control of the lake, from where he had planned to later launch a land force to meet General Howe at the Hudson River and cut off the Northern colonies. By the time the Inflexible was completed however, it was too late in the campaign season to complete these plans. The rest of Carleton’s fleet was composed of the fourteen gun schooner Lady Maria which had sailed from England, the 12-gun schooner Carleton of which the key parts were brought from England in the holds of fourteen gunboats. Lt. Schanke had prepared capstans and rollers to transport these two ships to St. John’s from Chambly. Due to bad weather however, the rollers became stuck in the mud, thus blocking the supply route. After weeks of delay, Sir Guy ordered the ships dismantled and carried piecemeal to St. John’s, where they would be rebuilt. Carleton also had the 18 gun scow Thunderer, a seven gun gondola Loyal Convert (which was named the American Convert until captured by the British in June of 1774), and twenty 1-gun boats commonly referred to as bateaux. Carleton’s fleet was built in the St. Lawrence shipyards, and taken up the Richelieu River to Chambly. From there, they were broken down, carried around the rapids, and rebuilt at St. Johns.



The differences between the two fleets were important. The fact that each colonial ship had two or more different types of guns caused confusion among the loaders and decreased overall efficiency. Also, the hulls of the British ships were twice as thick (at two inches) as those of the colonial fleet. Furthermore, the British fleet was manned by 1000 men who more or less were members of the Royal Navy, Artillery and Hessian soldiers, while the 700 men of the colonial fleet were drafts from the Northern Army of which only seventy had any sea experience. Arnold reported to General Schuyler that “we have a wretched motley crew in the fleet; the marines the refuse of every regiment and the seamen few of them ever wet with salt water.” The overall morale of the rebels was low so soon after Gen. Washington was driven from New York City. Arnold had the only position from which to thwart a British invasion from Canada The building and transport of ships and wilderness transport of supplies were slowed because Gates was in the Congress complaining about Gen. Schuyler. Arnold also had some dissension in the ranks. He had General Wynkoop arrested because of a dispute over Arnold’s authority. Overall, the British force was about three times as strong as Arnold and his men. At the time however, the rebels had no idea of the British numbers or motives until they saw them.

[SAMWolf]

A Heated Battle

By 12:30, according to Arnold’s personal account, the battle was getting quite heated. The British ships, those that were able to due to the wind, closed in and “continued a very hot fire with round and grape shot.” Typically, round shot skipped over the water and buried itself in the hull or cut away at the oars, while grape shot flew threw the air in deadly squalls. When under fire, the soldiers first heard the sound of the guns, and then “spongers, loaders, rammers leaped upon their pieces, showered by spray and rocked by close misses.” The guns that produced these blasts gave off a tremendous amount of smoke and noise, causing the deafening blasts to quickly darken the immediate area. The Congress itself was attacked by two of the British schooners and a ship which was packing eighteen pound guns. During the battle the Congress was hulled, or rammed, twelve times, and seven shots which were below the water level, but the men would just patch up the holes and keep fighting.

By one o’ clock, the Philadelphia was careening over. Capt. George Pausch, in command of the Hessian units of the British Navy noted in a diary that she (the Philadelphia) “began to careen over to one side, but in spite of this, continued her fire.” Shortly afterward the Philadelphia, commanded by Capt. Grant, had sunk to the bottom of the lake. The rebels, however, gave as good as they got. Capt. Pausch relates an incidence in his diary that tells of a cannonball hit the powder magazine of Lt. Dufais’ ship, almost killing all of his men. Pausch tells that a bateau, commanded by Lt. Smith of Artillery, took on board nine men while Pausch himself was took on the remainder forty-eight men, which caused his own ship to be dangerously close to sinking. The casualties from Lt. Dufais’ ship included a cannonier named Rossemer, who was shot; a sailor who lost his leg from the same ball that killed Rossemer; a drummer named Pillant and the ship’s pilot were also both killed in the blast.

The battle thus continued until about five o’ clock, when the Carleton and the other British ships found that if they retreated to seven hundred yards, the gunboats having spent their ammunition, they would be out of the range of the rebel’s grape shot, which without the support of the main British fleet, outclassed those of the British. According to James Hadden of the Royal Artillery, “little more than 1/3 of the British fleet” was engaged on the eleventh.

Therefore the British regrouped out of range and lined the ships across the lake in order to prevent the rebel fleet from escaping during the night. After dark on the 11th, Indians set fire to the Royal Savage. Also after dark, the weather took a change for the worse. This was fortunate for the rebels, because the addition of the cover of a storm added to the cover of night enabled Arnold, along with General Waterbury and Colonel Wigglesworth (whom Arnold considered “judicious, honest men and good soldiers,” nor would “do nothing without consulting [them]” to formulate a plan. This plan involved slipping the ships one after another, through a gap in the British blockade. Because Pringle had lined his fleet one mile from the west shore to beyond Garden Island, he unwittingly left a large hole for Arnold’s fleet. Trumbull led the escape during the night of the 11th by hugging the western shore. The hooded lanterns used as signals on each rebel ship were not noticed by the British. A testament to Arnold’s bravery is that the Congress brought up the rear, which is the most dangerous position because there wasn’t another ship “watching his back.” A 220 year old legend of the battle tells that the British bombarded a rock early on the 12th because it looked like a rebel ship in the early morning light. Today that rock is still referred to as “Carleton’s Prize.” By the time the British discovered the rebels’ escape, made repairs, and gave chase on the 13th, twenty-four hours had slipped by due to either “Pringle’s inertia” or “Carleton’s procrastination.”

[SAMWolf]

A Narrow Escape

Due to a favorable wind, the rebel fleet had sailed ten miles to Schuyler’s Island by the morning of the twelfth. The Americans spent three-quarters of their ammunition on the eleventh. The crew of the Congress had many holes to repair after being hulled and taking shots below the water line the day before. Furthermore, the main mast was damaged in two places and the yard mast was damaged in one place. General Waterbury’s ship the Washington, (Capt. Thatcher of the Washington died from wounds received on the eleventh, Hawley of the Royal Savage took over) had also been hulled several times and needed a new main mast. All of Watebury’s officers were killed on the eleventh. The New York had lost all of its officers during the action on the eleventh. Two gondolas were purposely sunk because of the damage they sustained. By two o’ clock, the rebels caught a fresh breeze to take them to Crown Point. Washington fell behind because of shortened sails due to a patched mast, and was taking on water. By evening however, the rebels were getting a detrimental wind out of the South and the British were getting a fortunate breeze from the Northeast. Thus the distance closed between the pursuer and the pursued.



After the British fleet came in site of the rebels early on the 13th, it took seven hours to catch up and reach striking distance. The British had a good wind until after spotted the rebel fleet on the thirteenth, therefore when it [the wind] died, the crews were fresh for rowing. On the other hand, the rebels had to row almost since leaving Schuyler’s Island on the twelfth. At noon, the Maria, the Carleton, and the Inflexible caught up with the colonial fleet at Split Rock. The fierce battle that followed was short-lived compared to that of the eleventh.

The Congress and the Washington defended the rear while the rest of the fleet tried to make their escape. The Washington was attacked by the Maria and the Inflexible. General Waterbury continued to fight as his officers and crew fell around him. By the time the crew of the Washington was taken prisoner at 12:30, Waterbury was the only officer alive on the deck. After the defeat of the Washington, the Maria and the Inflexible turned their guns on the Congress, who was trading blows with the Carleton. Arnold’s first mate, Mr. Frost, was killed. He and three others of the crew were given a hasty burial at sea during the heat of battle. Supplies were so low that the surgeon cut up his own coat to stuff the gaping wounds of the injured.


Benedict Arnold

The Congress kept up the fight against the three British ships for two more hours with broadside cannonades and hulling, the smoke thick and the guns roaring, but in the end the Congress and four other gondolas were fired and the crews ran into thick forest. These men didn’t stop until they arrived at Crown Point at four a.m. on the fourteenth. By time Arnold had reached Crown Point, he and his men had been without sleep for three days. The Lee was blown up by her own crew, who then fled, and the Jersey was captured.

Only the Enterprise, Revenge, Trumbull and a gondola escaped to Ticonderoga. The British could have destroyed the remainder of the fleet at Ticonderoga, but instead the rebels were allowed to escape. After the rebels fled Ticonderoga, the British moved in and stayed one month, but did nothing. Overall, there were only about twenty casualties on the thirteenth (there were forty on the eleventh). The British fared better on this occasion, there losses being “less than forty” over the course of the three days.

The Commander of this fleet, a proud and haughty man, but one with no shortage of courage or military prowess, was Benedict Arnold. The battle to be fought in this place, at close quarters, by men described by Arnold himself as a "wretched, motley crew" would end in defeat for the American navy. It was however, a bittersweet victory for the British. This action, technically a defeat-nonetheless was crucial for the American side. The significance of this delaying action was best summed as:
"The little American navy on Champlain was wiped out: but never had any force, big or small, lived to better purpose nor died more gloriously, for it had saved the Lake for that year.*"

The End of One Battle,
the Start of Another

The battle didn’t end there for Sir Guy Carleton. From the Jersey and the Washington, Sir Guy had about 110 prisoners. With these he practiced a psychological warfare in enlightened ways. Specific examples include moments when he would praise the rebel’s bravery to his officers while they (the prisoners) were present. He also ordered his surgeon to “to treat the wounded as they were” British soldiers.

This was a good tactic on Carleton’s part, because when the prisoners were later released at Ticonderoga, one could easily tell that the they were having second thoughts about the fight for independence. In fact, Colonel Trumbull’s opinion was that “the kindness with which they had been treated ...appeared to me to have made a very dangerous impression.” As a countermeasure to this, General Gates ordered the newly freed to move on to Skeensbourough. As the rebels waited for the final blow to fall, the invasion of America sputtered out because of Carleton’s philosophy of kindliness instead military vigor through tempering warfare with mercy” and Pringle’s blunders. In fact, Lt. Starke(Lady Maria), Lt. Longcraft (Loyal Convert), and Lt. Schanke (Inflexible) wrote in a letter to Capt. Pringle “that in preparing and fitting out the fleet and also in the operation afterward, no officer or other person employed therein had so small a share as yourself.” Starke, Longcraft, and Schanke accused Pringle of not making an attack plan, of not giving orders after the battle was joined, permitting the rebels to escape, and of cowardice in delay of pursuit.



Thus was the battle of Lake Champlain. The rebels were defeated, but the inexperienced colonials had thwarted an invasion from Canada which might have hastened the end of the Revolution in favor of the British. Arnold’s bravery coupled with Carleton’s reluctance to fight a decisive battle forced the British to abandon the lakes and withdraw to Canada to wait out the coming brutal Winter of 1776.

[SAMWolf]

The Commander of this fleet, a proud and haughty man, but one with no shortage of courage or military prowess, was Benedict Arnold. The battle to be fought in this place, at close quarters, by men described by Arnold himself as a "wretched, motley crew" would end in defeat for the American navy. It was however, a bittersweet victory for the British. This action, technically a defeat-nonetheless was crucial for the American side. The significance of this delaying action was best summed as
"The little American navy on Champlain was wiped out: but never had any force, big or small, lived to better purpose nor died more gloriously, for it had saved the Lake for that year.*"

-- Admiral Alfred Mahan
"War of American Independence"

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On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on February 13:
1440 Hartmann Schedel German physician/humanist/historian
1480 Hieronymus Aleander [Girólamo Aleandro], Italian diplomat/cardinal
1599 Alexander VII [Fabio Chigi], Siena Italy, pope (1655-67)
1610 Jean de la Badie French divine, founder of the Lagardists
1622 Adam Pijnacker landscape painter/etcher, baptized
1658 Jan B Wellekens Dutch poet/painter
1660 Johann Sigismund Kusser composer
1682 Giovanni Battista Piazzetta Venice, painter (Fortune Teller)
1713 Domingo Miguel Bernaube Terradellas composer
1721 John Reid composer
1755 François Alexander Sallantin composer
1756 Joannes van der Linden lawyer/judge (Ware Pleiter)
1757 John C Hespe Dutch journalist/politician
1766 Thomas Malthus Rookery Surrey UK, economist/demographer/population expert (Law of Malthus)
1768 Édouard Mortier French general, duke, prime minister (1834-35)
1778 Fernando Sor composer
1787 James P Carrell composer
1805 David Dudley Field lawyer/law codifier
1805 Peter G L Dirichlet Germany, number theorist/analyst
1807 Bartolommea Capitanio Italian monastery founder (Liefdezusters)
1813 Charles Pierre Schimpf Governor of Suriname (1855-59)
1820 Bela Albrecht Pal Keler composer
1822 Lev A Mej Russian nobleman/poet
1829 Gerard Keller writer (Netherlands Spectator)
1831 John Aaron Rawlins Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1869
1833 William Whedbee Kirkland Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1915
1837 Valentin de Zubiaurre y Unionbarrenechea composer
1840 Georg Jacobi composer
1849 Lord Randolph Churchill England, politician, Winston's father
1852 Johan L E Dreyer Danish astronomer (New generation catalogue of nebulae)
1859 Frank van de Goes Dutch writer/marxist theorist
1859 William Strang Scottish painter/engraver
1861 Uchimura Kanzo Tokyo, religious writer (How I Became a Christian)
1862 Karel Weis composer
1870 Leopold Godowsky Lithuania, virtuoso pianist/composer
1874 Hendrik Spiekman Dutch politician (social-democratic)
1875 Kanouse quintuplets Watertown WI, 1st quintuplets in US, born to Edna Kanouse
1877 Jazeps Medins composer
1881 Eleanor Farjeon English writer (Martin Pippin)
1883 Harold "Hal" Chase baseball player/manager
1883 Bainbridge Crist composer
1885 Elizabeth Virginia "Bess" Truman 1st lady (1945-53)
1886 Ricardo Güiraldes Argentina, novelist/poet (Don Segundo Sombra)
1887 Alvin York famed US soldier with 25 kills in WWI
1888 Georgios Papandreou Greek prefect of Lesbos/minister/premier
1888 Heintje Davids [Hendrika], Dutch revue star
1892 Grant Wood US, painter (American Gothic)
1892 Robert Houghwout Jackson 84th Supreme Court justice (1941-54)
1893 Ana Pauker-Rabensohn Romania, communist/foreign minister (1945-52)
1895 Fred Essler Austria, actor (Unsinkable Molly Brown, Saratoga Trunk)
1898 Neville Pearson English publisher
1902 Blair Moody New Haven CT, (Senator-MI)
1902 Karl Menger Austria/US mathematician (theory of dimension)
1903 Georges Simenon Belgium, mystery writer (Snow Was Black)
1908 Gerald Strang Claresholm Canada, composer
1908 Sulo Nurmela Finland, 4 X 100K relay skier (Olympics-gold-1936)
1908 Pauline Frederick journalist/correspondent (UN, NBC TV)
1910 William B Shockley London, US physicist (Nobel 1956 - for research on semiconductors and discovery of the transistor effect along with John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain)
1911 Jean Muir Fullarton actress
1912 Jose de Capriles US, fencer (Olympics-1936, 48, 52)
1912 French J Van den Brande Flemish actor
1912 Margaretta Scott actress (Crescendo, Where's Charley, Counterblast)
1913 Arthur Carleton Hetherington public servant
1913 Guiseppe Dossetti politician/priest
1914 Earl Cadogan British large landowner (Military Cross)
1914 George Kleinsinger San Bernardino CA, composer (Tubby the Tuba)
1915 Lyle Betther Philadelphia PA, actor (Harry-Grand Jury, Lone Ranger)
1916 James Griffith Los Angeles CA, actor (Sheriff of Cochise)
1917 Polly Rose actress (Myrtle-Love That Jill)
1918 Helen Stephens Fulton MO, 100 meter runner (Olympics-gold-1936)
1918 Patty Berg Minneapolis MN, LPGA golfer (1938 US Amateur, 1943, 1955 AP Sports Woman of the Year)
1919 Eddie Robinson winningest college football coach (Grambling)
1919 Joan Edwards New York NY, singer (Joan Edwards Show)
1919 Tennessee Ernie Ford Bristol TN, country singer/actor (pea picker)
1920 Bryant Boudleaux Shellman GA, rock writer (Bye Bye Love)
1920 Eileen Farrell Willimantic CT, opera soprano (Interrupted Melody)
1921 Henk van Galen Last Dutch journalist
1921 Zao-Wou-Ki Chinese/French painter/graphic artist
1922 Lord Pym of Sandy British minister of foreign affairs
1923 Chuck Yeager US test pilot (1st man to break sound barrier)
1924 Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber French economist/politician
1925 Gene Ames singer
1925 Jan Arends Dutch poet/author
1926 Barney Childs composer
1927 Harry Wich Dutch set designer
1929 Omar Torrijos Herrera President of Panama
1930 Dotty McGuire Middletown OH, singer (McGuire Sisters)
1931 Marjorie Jackson Austria, 100 meter/200 meter dash (Olympics-gold-1952)
1933 Emanuel Ungaro France, fashion designer (Neiman-Marcus Award-1969)
1933 Paul Biya President of Cameroon (1982- )
1933 Caroline Blakiston actress (At Bertram's Hotel)
1933 Kim Novak [Marilyn], Chicago IL, actress (Vertigo, Of Human Bondage)
1934 George Segal actor/banjo player (Carbon Copy, Fun with Dick & Jane)
1935 Tommy Jacobs golfer
1936 John Harris British cricket player
1936 Leamon King Tulare CA, 4X100 meter relayer (Olympics-gold-1956)
1937 Sigmund Jähn German DR, cosmonaut (Soyuz 31/29)
1937 Susan Oliver New York NY, actress (Ann-Peyton Place, Star Trek-Cage)
1938 Oliver Reed London England, actor (Big Sleep)
1939 Valery Illych Rozhdestvensky USSR, cosmonaut (Soyuz 23)
1941 Bo Svenson Göteborg Sweden, actor (North Dallas 40, Walking Tall)
1942 Carol Lynley New York NY, actress (Night Stalker, Fantasy Island, Immortal)
1942 Donald E Williams Lafayette IN, Captain USN/astronaut (STS 51D, STS 34)
1942 Peter Tork [Peter Halsten Thorkelson] Washington DC, singer/actor (Monkees-Last Train to Clarksville)
1943 F C Delius writer
1943 Geoff Edwards Westfield NJ, actor (Jeff-Petticoat Junction, Jackpot)
1943 Leo Frankowski US, sci-fi author (High Tech Knight, Flying Warlord)
1944 Stockard Channing New York NY, actress (Grease, The Big Bus, Without a Trace)
1944 Jerry Springer London England, talk show host (Jerry Springer Show)
1944 Sal Bando baseball player (Oakland A's)
1945 Keith Nichols jazz pianist
1945 King Floyd rocker
1945 Roy Dyke Liverpool, rock drummer (Ashton, Gardner & Dyke)
1946 Rainer Werner Fassbinder German director/actor (Ehe der Maria Braun)
1947 Mike Krzyzewski basketball coach
1947 Tony Butler rock bassist (Big Country-It's a Big Country, Wonderland)
1950 Leonard Pascoe cricketer (dynamic Aussie quick 1977-82)
1950 Peter Gabriel Surrey England, rock vocalist (Genesis, In Your Eyes)
1951 David Naughton Hartford CT, actor (My Sister Sam, Seperate Vacations)
1952 David Puilum Choi Hong Kong, murderer (FBI Most Wanted List)
1952 Ed Gagliardi New York NY, rock bassist (Foreigner-Cold As Ice)
1953 Sharon Wyatt Lebanon TN, actress (Tiffany-General Hospital)
1953 Suleiman Nyambui Tanzanian runner (world record 5k indoor)
1955 Jan de Ligt Dutch saxophonist (I've Got the Bullets)
1955 Scott Smith rock bassist (Loverboy-Get Lucky)
1956 Liam Brady British soccer player
1956 Peter Hook English rock bassist (New Order-Round & Round, Run)
1956 Richard Eden actor (Brick-Santa Barbara, Solar Crisis, Robocop)
1957 Doris King Nashville TN, vocalist (Girls Next Door-Don't Be Cruel)
1957 Thelston Payne cricket wicket-keeper (West Indies 1986)
1958 Mark Fox congas/percussionist (Haircut 100-Nobody's Fool)
1959 Ali Campbell rocker (UB40-Red Red Wine)
1960 Michael Craig rock bassist (Culture Club-Do You Want to Hurt Me)
1960 Kelly McCormick Anaheim CA, diver (Olympics-silver-1984)
1960 Matt Salinger Windsor VT, actor (Captain America, Deadly Deception)
1961 Les Warner rocker (Cult-Fire Woman)
1961 Henry Rollins US vocalist/poet (Black Flagg, Rollins Band)
1961 Kyi Hla Han Yangon, Australasia golfer
1962 Jackie Silva Rio de Janeiro Brazil, volleyballer (Pan Am-bronze)
1963 Roberta Vasquez Los Angeles CA, playmate (November, 1984)
1963 Penelope Ann Miller actress (Awakenings, Chaplin, Freshman)
1964 Evi Strasser Bavaria German, equestrian (Olympics-96)
1965 Stephen Manley Los Angeles CA, actor (Donny-Married the 1st Year)
1965 Kenny Harrison Milwaukee WI, triple jumper
1966 Freedom Williams rock vocalist (C&C Music Factory-Everybody Dance Now)
1966 Tally Chanel Tel Aviv Israel, actress (Warrior Queen)
1967 Melanie Denise Bridges Derry NH, Miss New Hampshire-America (1990)
1967 Bas Roorda soccer player (FC Groningen)
1967 Eddie Pye US baseball infielder (Los Angeles Dodgers)
1968 Matt Mieske US baseball outfielder (Milwaukee Brewers)
1969 Subroto Banerjee cricketer (Indian quickie & Dennis Lillee protégé)
1970 Kevin Stocker US baseball infielder (Philadelphia Phillies)
1970 Ruben Brown NFL guard (Buffalo Bills)
1970 Vernon Patao 141 lbs (64 kg) US weightlifter (alternate-Olympics-1996)
1971 Jim Reid NFL tackle (Houston Oilers)
1971 Mats Sundin Bromma Sweden, NHL center (Team Sweden, Toronto Maple Leafs)
1971 Shelly Hammonds NFL safety (Minnesota Vikings)
1971 Todd Williams US baseball pitcher (Los Angeles Dodgers)
1972 Charlie Garner NFL running back (Philadelphia Eagles)
1972 Juha Ylonen Helsinki Finland, NHL forward (Olympics-bronze-1998, Phoenix)
1973 Willie Smith NFL linebacker (Detroit Lions)
1974 Anthony Mortas hockey forward (Team France 1998)
1975 Mark Gerald Keddell Christchurch New Zealand, 200 meter (Olympics-96)
1979 Julie Nagle Miss North Dakota Teen-USA (1997)
1980 Kristy Powell Florida, gymnast (Olympics-96)

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Deaths which occurred on February 13:
1130 Honorius II [Lamberto], Pope (1124-30), dies
1199 Stefanus Nemanja (Symeon) monk, dies
1237 Jordanus of Saxon 2nd general of Dominicans, drowns
1315 Jean I of Chalon-Arlay mayor of Neuchâtel, dies
1332 Andronicus II Paleologus Byzantine emperor (1282-1328)/monk, dies
1542 Catherine Howard queen of England/5th wife of Henry VIII, is beheaded
1602 Alexander Nowell English churchman, dean of St Paul's, dies
1629 Girolamo Giacobbi composer, dies at 61
1635 Georg R Weckerlin German poet, dies at 50
1660 Charles X Gustaaf king of Sweden (1654-60), dies at 37
1662 Elisabeth Stuart English daughter of James I, dies at 65
1693 Johann Kaspar von Kerll German composer, dies at 65
1724 Francisco Jose Coutinho composer, dies at 43
1741 Johann Joseph Fux Austrian composer/music theorist, dies at about 80
1784 Charles Gravier French earl of Vergennes/Minister of Foreign Affairs, dies
1798 Wilhelm H Wackenroder German writer (Fantasies of Art), dies at 24
1814 Augustin Holler composer, dies at 69
1818 George Rogers Clark frontier military leader in Revolutionary War, dies
1841 Thomas Ainsworth English/Dutch industrialist, dies at 45
1849 Christian Rummel composer, dies at 61
1873 Petrus AS van Limburg Brouwer [Abraham van Luik], literary, dies
1882 Henry Highland Garnet diplomat, dies in Monrovia Liberia at 66
1883 Pavel Melnikov [Petsjerski], Russian historian, dies at 64
1883 Wilhelm Richard Wagner German composer (Die Walküre), dies in Venice at 69
1891 David Dixon Porter US Rear Admiral (Union Army-Civil War), dies at 77
1893 Ignacio M Altamirano Mexican author (El Zarco), dies at 58
1894 Franjo Racki Croatian historian/politician, dies at 65
1896 Karl Reinthaler composer, dies at 73
1907 Marcel Bertrand French mine engineer, dies at 59
1917 Joel Angel Russian musicologist/composer, dies at 48
1921 Willem P C Knuttel Dutch bibliography/librarian, dies at 67
1927 Brooks Adams US philosopher (New Empire), dies at 78
1935 Violet Paget British author (Gospels of Anarchy), dies at 78
1937 C A Bernoulli writer, dies
1941 Naomi Uemura Japanese mountain climber, dies on Mt McKinley
1943 William Walraven journalist/writer (Neglected Grouser), dies at 55
1945 George Studd cricketer (4 Tests with brother vs Australia 1882-83), dies
1952 Alfred Einstein German/US musicologist, dies at 71
1958 Georges Rouault French painter (Christ aux outrages), dies at 86
1959 William L Axt composer, dies at 70
1960 Delmar G Roos designer of the jeep, dies at 79
1963 Harry Steers bowling hall of famer, dies
1965 Jerry Burke pianist (Lawrence Welk Show), dies
1965 William H Kilpatrick US mathematician/philosopher, dies at 93
1966 Elio Vittorini writer, dies
1968 Ildebrando Pizzetti Italian composer, dies at 87
1968 Mae Marsh actress (Birth of a Nation, Intolerance), dies at 72
1970 Herbert Strudwick cricketer (28 Tests for England, ct 60 stp 12), dies
1975 Dagmar Godowsky actress (Common Law, Red Lights), dies at 78
1975 Eric Harding Thiman composer, dies at 74
1975 Henry P Van Dusen US protestant theologist, dies at 77
1976 General Murtala Mohammed head of Nigeria, killed during a coup
1976 Lily Pons French/US soprano/opera diva (Met Opera), dies at 71
1977 Jack Gardner actor (Wild Bill Hickok, 3 Russian Girls), dies at 77
1979 Jean Renoir actor/director (Rules of the Game), dies at 84
1980 David Janssen [Meyer], actor (Fugitive, Harry O), dies at 49
1982 Zeng Jinlian Hunan China, grew to 8'1" (tallest woman), dies at 17
1983 Marian Nixon actress (Dr Bull, Sweepstakes), dies of cancer at 78
1987 M L "Curly" Page cricketer (New Zealand Test captain 1933), dies
1990 Ken Lynch actor (Paratroop Command, Legend of Tom Dooley), dies at 79
1991 Bernard Sauer Yiddish actor, dies of heart attack at 67
1991 Eddie Bartell actor (Every Night at Eight), dies at 83
1992 Bob den Uyl Dutch journalist/writer (Restless Travel), dies at 61
1993 Agatha Hagtingius-Seger Dutch author (Sparkles Chain), dies at 91
1994 Jack Kirby cartoonist (Marvel Comics), dies at 76
1994 Michael Francis Morris Lindsay orientalist, dies at 84
1994 Theo Bitter Dutch painter/set designer, dies at 79
1995 Abdelhafid Said Algerian student leader, murdered
1995 Alberto Burri Italian physician/sculptor/painter), dies at 79
1995 Azeddine Medjoubi head Algerian nationally theater, murdered at 49
1995 Joan A C Ramsey nee Hamilton lady Ramsey of Canterbury, dies at 84
1995 Wilton "Bogey" Gaynair saxophonist, dies at 68
1996 Daniel K Womack singer/guitarist, dies at 91
1996 Martin Balsam actor (Archie's Place), dies at 76
1998 Jo Clayton author, (Cancer Died, Drums of Chaos), dies at 58

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On this day...
1130 Gregorio de' Papareschi elected as Pope Innocent II
1349 Jews are expelled from Burgsordf Switzerland
1510 Charles of Gelre conquerors Oldenzaal
1545 Willem of Nassau becomes prince of Orange
1566 St Augustine FL founded
1601 John Lancaster leads 1st East India Company voyage from London
1633 Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei arrived in Rome for trial before Inquisition for professing belief that earth revolves around the Sun
1635 Oldest US public institution, Boston Latin School founded
1651 Flemish missionary Joris van Geel departs to Congo
1668 Treaty of Lisbon Spain recognizes Portugal
1678 Tycho Brahe 1st sketches "Tychonic system" of solar system
1689 British Parliament adopts Bill of Rights
1692 MacDonald clan murdered on orders of King William III
1693 College of William & Mary opens
1706 Battle at Fraustadt Swedish army beats Russia/Saksen
1741 Andrew Bedford publishes 1st American magazine (The American Magazine)
1755 Rebel leader Mangkubuni signs Treaty of Gianti Java
1777 Marquis de Sade arrested without charge, imprisoned in Vincennes fortress
1782 French fleet occupies St Christopher
1786 Abraham Baldwin selected president of University of Georgia
1795 1st state university in US opens, University of North Carolina
1799 1st US law regulating insurance passed, by Massachusetts
1809 French take Saragossa, Spain after a long siege
1816 Teatro San Carlo in Naples destroyed by fire
1826 American Temperance Society, forms in Boston
1832 1st appearance of cholera at London
1837 Riot in New York over high price of flour
1858 Sir Richard Burton & John Speake explore Lake Tanganyika, Africa
1860 King Basse Kajuara departs Boni South-Celebes
1861 1st military action to result in Congressional Medal of Honor, Arizona
1861 Abraham Lincoln declared President
1861 Colonel Bernard Irwin attacks & defeats hostile Chiricahua Indians
1862 Siege of Ft Donelson TN
1864 Meridian Campaign fighting at Chunky Creek & Wyatt, Mississippi
1866 Jesse James holds up his 1st bank, Liberty MO ($15,000)
1867 Johann Strauss' "Blue Danube" waltz premieres in Vienna
1886 Painter Thomas Eakins resigns from Philadelphia Academy of Art after controversy over use of male nudes in a coed art class
1895 Moving picture projector patented
1899 -1ºF (-18ºC) New Orleans LA
1899 -2ºF (-19ºC) Tallahassee FL (state record)
1899 -16ºF (-27ºC), Minden LA (state record)
1905 -29ºF (-34ºC) Pond AR (state record)
1905 -40ºF (-40ºC) Lebanon KS (state record)
1905 -40ºF (-40ºC) Warsaw MO (state record)
1907 English suffragettes storm British Parliament & 60 women are arrested
1912 England regains cricket's Ashes
1914 American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers-ASCAP forms in New York NY
1920 National Negro Baseball League organized
1920 League of Nations recognizes perpetual neutrality of Switzerland
1920 Switzerland rejoins League of Nations
1923 1st Black pro Basketball team, "Renaissance", organizes
1924 King Tut's tomb opened
1925 US Congress makes Surpreme Court appeal more difficult
1927 Uprising against Portuguese regime of General Carmona defeated
1929 Cruiser Act OKs construction of 19 new cruisers & an aircraft carrier
1929 Vladimir Mayakofsky's "Klop" premieres in Moscow
1932 "Free Eats" introduces George "Spanky" McFarland to "Our Gang"
1934 Austrian Dollfuss government bans socialistic party
1935 1st US surgical operation for relief of angina pectoris, Cleveland OH
1935 Bruno Hauptmann found guilty of kidnap & murder of Lindbergh's infant
1937 "Prince Valiant" comic strip appears; known for historical detail
1937 Maribel Vinson wins her 9th US figure skating championship
1937 NFL Boston Redskins move to Washington DC
1937 Bradman scores 123 South Africa vs Queensland, 165 minutes, 10-4 1-6 in cricket
1937 US female Figure Skating championship won by Maribel Vinson
1937 US male Figure Skating championship won by Robin Lee
1940 Bradman scores 209 in 161 minutes for South Australia at the WACA
1941 Nazi leaders attack Dutch Jewish Council
1942 Hitler's Operation Seelöwe (invasion of England) cancelled
1943 German assault on Sidi Bou Zid Tunisia, General Eisenhower visits front
1943 Women's Marine Corps created
1945 Allied planes bomb Dresden Germany; 135,000 die
1945 USSR captures Budapest, after 49-day battle with Germany; 159,000 die
1946 "Duchess Misbehaves" opens at Adelphi Theater NYC for 5 performances
1948 Wright Flyer, 1st plane to fly, returns to US from England
1948 Andy Ganteaume scores 112 for W Indies in only Test Cricket innings
1948 Ice Pairs Championship at Davos won by Lannoy & Baugniet of Belgium
1948 Men's Figure Skating Championship in Davos won by Richard Button USA
1952 Rocky Marciano defeated Lee Savold for his 39th straight win
1953 A's change name of Shibe Park to Connie Mack Stadium
1954 Furman basketball star Frank Selvy scores 100 points in a game vs Newberry
1954 Frank Selvey scores 100 points for Furman beating Newberry 149-95
1955 Israel acquires 4 of 7 Dead Sea scrolls
1955 KRCG TV channel 13 in Jefferson City MO (CBS) begins broadcasting
1955 Patty Berg wins LPGA St Petersburg Golf Open
1956 KYW-AM in Philadelphia PA gives calls to WTAM (now WWWE) Cleveland
1957 Southern Christian Leadership Conference organizes in New Orleans
1959 Barbie doll goes on sale
1959 Miro Cardon, premier of Cuba, resigns
1960 "Beg, Borrow or Steal" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 5 performances
1960 "Saratoga" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 80 performances
1960 France performs 1st nuclear test at Reggane Proving Grounds Algeria
1961 Frank Sinatra launches Reprise label under Warner Brothers Records
1961 Soviet Union fires a rocket from Sputnik V to Venus
1965 US female Figure Skating championship won by Peggy Fleming
1965 US male Figure Skating championship won by Gary Visconti
1966 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1968 US sends 10,500 additional soldiers to Vietnam
1969 Mary Hopkin's Postcard album on Apple is released
1969 Suriname government of Pengel resigns
1970 Man-eating tiger is reported to have killed 48, 80 km from New Delhi
1970 NL offices begins move from Cincinnati to San Francisco (completed Feb 23)
1971 Golfing Vice President Spiro Agnew hits 2 tee shots into the crowd, injuring 2
1971 12,000 South Vietnamese troops cross into Laos
1972 "1776" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 1,217 performances
1972 "Grease" opens on Broadway
1972 11th Winter Olympics games close at Sapporo, Japan
1973 Musical "El Grande de Coca-Cola" premieres in New York NY
1973 US dollar devalues 10%
1974 Dissident Nobel writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn expelled from USSR
1974 "Rainbow Jones" opens & closes at Music Box Theater NYC
1974 James "Cool Papa" Bell is named to baseball's Hall of Fame
1975 Cyprus premier Denktash proclaims Turkish-Cypriot Federation
1976 Dorothy Hamill wins Olympics figure-skating gold, Innsbruck, Austria
1976 Peter Casserly of New Zealand hand-sheers record 353 lambs in 9 holes
1977 Eric Heiden is 1st American to win world speed skating championship
1977 "Guys & Dolls" closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 239 performances
1977 "Ipi Tombi" closes at Harkness Theater NYC after 39 performances
1977 "Robber Bridegroom" closes at Biltmore Theater NYC after 145 performances
1977 Pam Higgins wins LPGA American Cancer Society Golf Classic
1978 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1979 Washington State's Hood Canal Bridge breaks up in windstorm
1979 2nd Emmy Sports Award presentation
1980 Apollo Computer Inc incorporated
1980 New Zealand beats West Indies by one wicket in cricket at Dunedin
1981 Longest sentence published by New York Times-1286 words
1982 Islander's Bryan Trottier scores 5 goals against the Flyers
1982 Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" is on the charts for 402nd week
1983 World Boxing Council becomes 1st to cut boxing from 15 to 12 rounds
1983 "Merlin" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 199 performances
1983 33rd NBA All-Star Game East beats West 132-123 at Los Angeles CA
1983 Australia beats New Zealand 2-0 to win World Series Cup
1983 Donna White wins LPGA Sarasota Golf Classic
1983 E Bernstein, Levinson & Link's musical "Merlin" premieres in New York NY
1984 Konstantin Chernenko succeeds Yuri Andropov as USSR leader
1984 6 year old Texan Stormie Jones gets 1st heart & liver transplant
1985 Dow Jones closes at 1297.92 (record high) after topping 1300 earlier
1985 Polish police arrests 7 Solidarity leaders
1987 Tigers' Jack Morris awarded $1.85 million salary by arbitrator
1988 15th Winter Olympics games open at Calgary, Canada
1988 Christine Wachtel runs world record 800 meter indoor (1 minute 56.40 seconds)
1988 European Community plans removal of inner boundaries on Jan 1, 1992
1988 Heike Dreschler long jumps world record indoor (7.37 meters)
1988 Ronald Weigel runs unofficial world record speed walking (18 minutes 11.41 seconds)
1989 Oklahoma football player Charles Thompson is charged with selling cocaine; he is later sentenced to 2 years in prison
1989 Salvadoran army attacks Encuentros hospital, rapes, kills patients
1989 Kidnapped Belgian Premier Vanden Boeynants freed
1990 Larry Bird (Celtics) ends NBA free throw streak of 71 games
1990 US, England, France & England give Germany the OK to re-unify
1990 50 killed at Inkatha-UDF battle in Natal, South Africa
1991 Syria tells Germany they are ready to recognize Israel
1991 US bombs Iraqi air raid shelter, killing 334
1992 West beats East 14 to 9 in Major Soccer League all star game
1992 "Most Happy Fella" opens at Booth Theater NYC for 229 performances
1992 Jose Canseco repeatedly rams his Porsche into wife Esther's BMW
1993 Ljubow Kremljowa runs world record 1000 meter indoor (2 minutes 34.84 seconds)
1993 Merlene Ottey runs world record 200 meter indoor (21.87 seconds)
1993 Sergei Bubka pole vaults indoor record (6.14 meters)
1994 44th NBA All-Star Game East beats West 127-118 at Minneapolis MN
1994 Inna Lassovskaya jumps world record 14.9m
1994 Johann Olav Koss skates world record 5000 meter 6 34,96
1994 Ship disaster near Ranong Thailand, kills 200
1995 Howard Stern radio show premieres in San Diego CA on KIOZ 105.3 FM
1995 West Indies beat New Zealand by innings & 332, Courtney Walsh 13-55
1996 Howard Stern announces he will be making the film "Private Parts"
1996 Rock musical "Rent", by Jonathan Larson, opens off-Broadway
1997 "Three Sisters" opens at Criterion Theater NYC
1997 Discovery captures Hubble Space Telescope
2000 US female Figure Skating championship
2000 US male Figure Skating championship

---

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

St Augustine FL : Fiesta de Menendez

---

Religious Observances
Christian : Feast of St Martinian
Methodist : Race Relations Sunday (2nd Sunday in February)
Christian : Commemoration of St Catherine de Ricci, virgin/mystic
Anglican : Commemoration of Absalom Jones, priest,

---

Religious History
1826 The American Temperance Society (later renamed the American Temperance Union) was organized in Boston. It quickly grew into a national crusade, and within a decade over 8,000 similar groups had been formed, boasting a total of 1.5 million members.
1849 Otterbein College was chartered in Westerville, Ohio, under sponsorship of the United Brethren Church.
1936 The Lutheran Army and Navy Commission was organized by the Missouri Synod for the purpose of commissioning chaplains for military service and to minister to Lutheran personnel among the military overseas. In 1947 its name was changed to the Armed Services Commission.
1951 Death of Lloyd C. Douglas, 74, American Congregational clergyman and novelist. He published his first religious novel "Magnificent Obsession" in 1929, followed later by "The Robe" (1942) and "The Big Fisherman" (1948).
1973 The National Council of U.S. Catholic Bishops announced that anyone undergoing or performing an abortion would be excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.

---

Thought for the day :
"Never say you know a man until you have divided an inheritance with him."

[SAMWolf]

1945 Allied planes bomb Dresden Germany; 135,000 die

1991 US bombs Iraqi air raid shelter, killing 334

What a difference in how we treat our enemies. I remember all the Press's hanky wringing over the Iraqi bunker.

[Valin]

One of the reasons for the difference
Born on this day
1910 William B Shockley London, US physicist (Nobel 1956 - for research on semiconductors and discovery of the transistor effect along with John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain)

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Cote.

I see you've been doing your reading on American History. I'm glad you're learning something about your country's history too. Nothing like some curiosity to get you digging a little deeper.

So are you saying that if your ancestors hadn't been Tories you would have been American? That explains why every time we got into a war with England we tried to invade Canada, they were trying to bring your ancestors back!!

[SAMWolf]

Really though, I find it interesting that your ancestors came from the New Jersy area and decided to go to Canada.

If you find out more details and wouldn't mind, I'd be interested in hearing the story.

[aomagrat]

Today's classic warship, USS Lake Champlain (CV-39)

Essex class aircraft carrier
Displacement: 27,100 t.
Length: 888'
Width: 147'6"
Speed: 33k.
Complement: 3,448
Armament: 12 5"; 72 40mm

The USS Lake Champlain (CV-39) was laid down in drydock by the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth Va., 15 March 1943; launched by float 2 November 1944; sponsored 3 June 1945 by Mrs. Warren Austin, wife of Senator Austin of Vermont, and commissioned the same day, Capt. Logan C. Ramsey in command.

After shakedown and visits to New York and Philadelphia, Lake Champlain was assigned to "Magic Carpet" duty, departed Norfolk for England 14 October, and arrived Southampton the 19th where she embarked veterans and returned them to New York .

She set a speed record for crossing the Atlantic 26 November 1945 when she arrived at Hampton Roads, Va., having completed a run from Cape Spartel, Africa, in 4 days, 8 hours, 51 minutes. This record stood until surpassed by SS United States in the summer of 1952.

Lake Champlain retired to the "Mothball Fleet" at Norfolk, Va., 17 February 1947. After the United States had allowed her active military strength to shrink to the danger point, the Communists struck in Korea. Fortunately, we had ships in reserve, though it took time to obtain and train crews and provide materiel. Lake Champlain was reactivated and modernized at Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. and recommissioned 19 September 1952, Capt. G. T. Mundroff in command.

After shakedown in Cuban and Haitian waters, 25 November through 25 December, the carrier departed Mayport, Fla., for Korea 26 April 1953 via the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and China Sea, becoming the largest ship to transit the Suez Canal. She moored at Yokosuka, Japan, 9 June 1953.

As flagship of Carrier Task Force 77, she sailed from Yokosuka 11 June and arrived off western Korea 14 June. The carrier's air group immediately launched sorties cratering runways; assaulting enemy troops; attacking trenches, bunkers, gun positions; and giving close air support to hard pressed ground forces. Her planes also escorted B-29 bombers on their way to enemy targets. Lake Champlain continued to strike at the enemy until the truce was signed 27 July. Relieved by Kearsarge (CVA- 33) 11 October , Lake Champlain headed toward the South China Sea arriving Singapore 24 October. Bidding farewell to the Pacific Ocean 27 October, she steamed toward home touching at Columbo, Port Said, Cannes, and Lisbon before arriving Mayport, Fla., 4 December 1953.

In the years that followed, Lake Champlain made several cruises to the Mediterranean, participating with NATO forces. On 25 April 1957 she joined elements of the fleet in a high-speed run to the scene of tension in the Middle East, cruising in t he vicinity of Lebanon and backing Jordan's stand against the threat of Communism. The swift and firm reaction averted a near catastrophe in the Middle East. Tension eased and Lake Champlain returned to Mayport 27 July. Converted to an antisubmarine carrier and reclassified (CVS-39) on 1 August, Lake Champlain trained off the eastern seaboard to master her new role. She departed Bayonne, N.J., 8 February 1958 for a Mediterranean cruise returning 30 October to Mayport, Fla. After yard overhaul, she departed for the Mediterranean 10 June and visited Spain, Denmark, and Scotland, before returning to Mayport 9 August.

The carrier operated off Florida and in the Caribbean until 15 June 1958 when she sailed on another Mediterranean cruise returning to her newly assigned home port, Quonset Point, R.I., 4 September.

The carrier operated out of Quonset Point, R.I., until 29 June 1960 when she made a midshipmen cruise to Halifax, returning 12 August. Beginning 7 February, she made a cruise to the Caribbean, returning 2 March.

Lake Champlain was selected as the prime recovery ship for the first manned space flight. She sailed for the recovery area 1 May, and was on station on the 5th when Comdr. Alan Sheppard splashed down in spacecraft Freedom 7, some 300 miles down range from Cape Kennedy. Helicopters from the carrier visually followed the descent of the capsule and were over the astronaut 2 minutes after the impact. They skillfully recovered Astronaut Sheppard and Freedom 7 and carried them safely to Lake Champlain's flight deck.

For the next year the ship operated along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean. In June 1962, she embarked Naval Academy midshipmen for a summer cruise to Halifax, Nova Scotia and Kingston, Jamaica, where she represented the United States at the island's celebration of its independence, 3 August.

On 24 October, Lake Champlain joined in a classic exercise of seapower--the quarantine of Cuba, where the Soviet Union was constructing bases for offensive missiles. To block this grave threat, U.S. warships deployed throughout the western Atlantic, choking off the flow of military supplies to Cuba and enforcing American demands for the withdrawal of the Russian offensive missiles.

After the American demands were substantially complied with, Lake Champlain sailed for home 23 November, via St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and arrived Quonset Point, 4 December 1962. For the next few months the carrier was in New England waters for operations and overhaul. In September 1963, while she was on a cruise to Guantanamo Bay, her training schedule was interrupted when she was ordered to Haiti to relieve distress caused by Hurricane "Jane." Her helicopters located homeless victims and flew them food and medical supplies.

Lake Champlain returned to Quonset Point 9 November for operations in New England waters. She visited Bermuda briefly in spring of 1964 and steamed to Spain in the fall for landings near Huelva. She sailed 6 November from Barcelona for the United States, touched at Gibraltar and arrived at Quonset Point the 25th. The first half of 1965, found the Lake Champlain performing training duties and conducting exercises up and down the East Coast. The last major duty of her career occurred on 5 August when she served as the primary recovery ship for Gemini 5.

By this time, Lake Champlain had become the only "axial" (or straight) flight deck fixed-wing aircraft carrier in a fleet that had long-since embraced the revolutionary angled flight deck. Incapable of safe operation of modern aircraft, and rendered redundant by the construction of new "super-carriers", she was decommissioned in May 1966. USS Lake Champlain was striken from the Naval Vessel Register in December 1969 and sold for scrapping in July 1972.

[SAMWolf]

Interesting history, built for World War II and ended up serving in Korea instead.

[GailA]

Today's graphic

[SAMWolf]

Good Afternoon GailA. My sentiments exactly!

[SAMWolf]

The simple monument is easy to miss. And even if the traveler happens upon it, the few simple words really do little to convey the events that took place here. VALCOUR ISLAND...

Scene of the first phase of the dramatic Battle of Lake Champlain.

Take a look at the photo of the monument- in the distance is the island of Valcour. It is close, and yet here, within this space took place a desperate struggle between some 15 American warships and a much larger British fleet. These were the warships of the the new American navy, built a short time before in the southernmost reaches of the lake at a place known then as Skenesborough, today's Whitehall, New York.

The Commander of this fleet, a proud and haughty man, but one with no shortage of courage or military prowess, was Benedict Arnold. The battle to be fought in this place, at close quarters, by men described by Arnold himself as a "wretched, motley crew" would end in defeat for the American navy. It was however, a bittersweet victory for the British. This action, technically a defeat-nonetheless was crucial for the American side. The significance of this delaying action was best summed up by Admiral Alfred Mahan in his "War of American Independence" when he wrote..."The little American navy on Champlain was wiped out: but never had any force, big or small, lived to better purpose nor died more gloriously, for it had saved the Lake for that year."