The first USS ''Boston'' was a

gundalow A gundalow (also known in period accounts as a "gondola") is a type of flat-bottomed sailing barge once common in Maine and New Hampshire rivers. It first appeared in the mid-1600s, reached maturity of design in the 1700 and 1800s, and lingered i ...

built at

Skenesborough Whitehall is a village located in the town of Whitehall in Washington County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village population was 2,614 in 2010. The village of Whitehall is located just ...

(present day Whitehall), New York, in 1776, with a crew of 45 for General Benedict Arnold's short-lived Lake Champlain Fleet. She took part in the

Battle of Valcour Island The Battle of Valcour Island, also known as the Battle of Valcour Bay, was a naval engagement that took place on October 11, 1776, on Lake Champlain. The main action took place in Valcour Bay, a narrow strait between the New York mainland and ...

that delayed the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

invasion. She was probably commissioned sometime early in August 1776, with a Captain Sumner in command. Early in October, she moved north with the other 14 ships of the American squadron. On the 11th, they met the vastly superior British squadron off Valcour Island in the northern reaches of the lake. The British discovered them in a shallow bay south of the island and moved in to begin a bombardment. By 11:00 that morning, the schooner ''Carleton'' and some gunboats had rowed to within gun range to open the shelling. The wind prevented the larger British vessels from getting into the fray. By 5:00 that afternoon when the British withdrew for the night, two of the larger American vessels were severely damaged and a third had to be run aground, burned, and abandoned. That night, ''Boston'' joined the remainder of the Americans in stealing away toward Crown Point to the south. The British discovered their flight on the morning of the 12th and struck out in pursuit. They did not finally catch the Americans until the morning of the 13th at a point just below Split Rock nearly halfway to their goal. A two-hour running fight ensued. Severely pressed, General Arnold took and four of the gondolas into Buttonmold Bay on the eastern coast of the lake. There he unloaded small arms and destroyed the vessels by fire to prevent their capture. ''Boston'' was destroyed there on 13 October 1776.

References

* Row galleys of the Continental Navy Age of Sail naval ships of the United States Ships of the Continental Navy 1776 ships Maritime incidents in 1776 {{US-mil-ship-stub