Anniversary Event for the Battle of Valcour Island

Rajshree (Raj) Solanki is the Senior Curator at the National Museum of the United States Navy (NMUSN). Before this, she was the Director of Collections and Head Registrar at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Registrar at the Naval History and Heritage Command’s Curator Branch, and Registration Loan Specialist at the National Museum of the American Indian. In 2019, she was voted the country’s Registrar of the Year by her peers. Raj holds a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Tennessee.

Dr. George Schwarz is a maritime archaeologist for the Naval History and Heritage Command. He joined the NHHC Underwater Archaeology Program in 2008 to help research, locate, preserve, and manage Navy’s sunken military craft worldwide. In addition to naval craft, he has investigated shipwrecks in Lake Champlain for nearly two decades, including the world’s earliest-known archaeologically-studied steamboat wreck, Phoenix.

To commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the US Navy and the Battle of Valcour Island, the Naval History and Heritage Command is highlighting two significant wrecks which represent ongoing but diverse research projects.

These wrecks represent some of the earliest of surviving examples of American naval forces, and provide opportunities to study and elaborate on early naval history, battle tactics, living conditions aboard naval craft, and ship design.

Royal Savage was Benedict Arnold’s flagship early in the battle and was in the immediate line of fire when the British entered Valcour Bay. The schooner ran aground before burning and sinking off Valcour Island. It was raised 158 years later, disassembled, then stored over the next 81 years before being returned in pieces to NHHC for documentation, study, and reconstruction in the form of scale models.

In stark contrast, the gunboat Spitfire still rests intact on the Lake Champlain lakebed in remarkable condition and has been recently visited and documented by Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and NHHC, with further work planned to preserve this sole intact in situ US naval vessel from the Revolutionary War.

This presentation will focus on the history and archaeology of the battle and of these specific wrecks from Valcour. At the end of the presentation, we will introduce a new project for the Navy and partners, with a long-term goal of recovering and conserving a rare WWII artifact for display in the planned new National Museum of the US Navy.

Valor at Valcour:

Revolutionary War Wrecks in Lake Champlain and a Vision for Exhibiting US Navy’s Underwater Archaeology

Sunday, October 11, 2026
3:00 - 5:00 PM EASTERN

In-person or Virtual

U.S. Navy Memorial | 701 Pennsylvania Ave NW

A Lecture and Panel Discussion With:

About the Battle of Valcour Island

In partnership with

Know Before You Go