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IgnoreThe Radeau, also known as The Land Tortoise, is a 257-year old shipwreck sitting almost completely intact in 105 feet of fresh water at the bottom of Lake George, New York. After the French attacked and destroyed Fort William Henry in 1757 during the French and Indian War (1754-1763), British forces constructed the Radeau as a floating gun platform to defend British-held territory along the lake, part of the main lines of supply and communication in Colonial North America.
Each winter of the conflict, snow, ice and cold severely hampered troop movements and ice on the lake prevented the deployment of the Radeau and its accompanying fleet. To assure a French incursion in winter did not capture the Radeau, the British filled her with ballast rocks and sank her on 22 October 1758 in 20 feet of water along with a fleet of about 250 smaller craft, known as “bateaux.” They planned to raise the fleet in the spring of 1759. Unfortunately, the ship slid down an unforeseen incline into deeper water and gently sank to the bottom of the lake in 105 feet of cold, dark, murky water two miles north of the present day village of Lake George.
The Radeau, as a flat-bottomed warship, was a floating gun platform constructed of pine and oak intended to carry seven cannon fired from its asymmetrically arranged gun ports. It featured a mast and sail, as well as thirteen small oar holes to permit its crew to row the vessel and fine-tune its position in the water as it fired on targets on land. Its upper bulwark, constructed of oak planking, was intended to deflect musket and small cannon balls. The Radeau is the only surviving example of this class of warship in the world.
Today, the Radeau is well preserved thanks to the cold water in which it sits and the inability of significant sunlight to penetrate the deep water. Although it can be reached using scuba gear, the wreck challenges divers due to the circa 40-46 degree F water temperatures, the absence of significant light, and the layer of silt sitting in and around the wreck. Visibility at the site is typically between 5 and 10 feet, but may reach an amazing 20-30 feet on rare occasions.