Research Continues ...
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From top to bottom these underwater pictures of the Land Tortoise show the bow section and mooring ring, an open gunport on the starboard side and the interior of the port side with sweep holes visible. (Photographs by Russell Bellico)
SEA HISTORY 63, AUTUMN 1992
The radeau archaeological research team has been active for two years, collecting construction data on the oldest intact warship ever found in North America. This volunteer team has determined that the radeau 's rigging is absent, but that there is at least one mast step, 26 sweep holes for rowing, seven cannon ports and a vessel length of 52 feet with an 18-foot beam. These details confirm that the Lake George radeau is probably the lost Land Tortoise. Because the unfinished vessel was sunk on purpose, there is no expectation to find loose artifacts at the site. The Land Tortoise sits more than 100 feet below Lake George, slightly down by the bow and with about a 15° port list. She is partially filled with rock ballast, which has shifted to cover a major portion of the port side hulJ and the sole. She is caulked and her bottom is covered with a pitchlike substance. The interior of the vessel is filled with silt so fine that the slightest movement of the water stirs up cloudy billows and quickly closes visibility to zero; this means that diver activities must be carefully organized. Despite lack of funding and technical difficulties associated with the radeau ' s site, the team has taken basic vessel measurements and has begun collecting detailed construction information. These measurements show that the Land Tortoise ' s timbers and planks are massive, the parts are all there and they fit together in a traditional manner. Although she is built like many other vessels of her period, the quality of the workmanship is sometimes casual. This may be a function of the urgent need to produce vessels quickly in the fall of 1758 and also an indication that the shipwright directed her design using non-boatbuilding carpenters in construction. This fits with what we know of the personnel involved in the 1758-59 campaign. What is not apparent in earlier published materials on radeaux, and what has been suggested by our 1990-91 work, is that the vessel would have been used as a stable platform for the cannon to protect the shore or lake front. She was rowed or sailed only as necessary to move her and her armaments from one site to another. The Land Tortoise was designed more for use as a floating battery than a proper warship. During the summer of 1992, while the archaeological team completes its study of the radeau ' s construction, consultants will study the options for the radeau' s future under the auspices of a National Trust for Historic Preservation grant. Their results will be presented in a public forum in the fall so that the citizens of New York State can make informed decisions about the radeau 's future. Meanwhile, our greatest concern is that other divers, either intentionally or by accident, will visit the site and damage this irreplaceable cultural resource. -Kathy Abbass, PhD, Curator-at-Large , NMHS , Senior Archaeologist, Radeau Project 19