The first USS Ticonderoga was a schooner in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

. Ticonderoga was built as a steamer in 1814 at Vergennes

Vergennes, Vermont

Vergennes is a city located in the northwest quadrant of Addison County, Vermont, in the United States. Bordered by the towns of Ferrisburgh, Panton and Waltham, as of the 2000 census the city population was 2,741. It is the smallest of Vermont's nine cities in terms of population...

, Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

. She was purchased by the Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 at Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain is a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of...

, converted to schooner

Schooner

A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....

 rigging, and relaunched on 12 May 1814.
She is the first U.S. Navy vessel, in a proud lineage of ships, to bear the name Ticonderoga.

Service history

Ticonderoga rendered gallant service with Captain Thomas Macdonough

Thomas MacDonough

Thomas Macdonough was an early-19th-century American naval officer noted for his roles in the first Barbary War, and the War of 1812. He was the son of a revolutionary officer, Thomas Sr. who lived close to Middleton, Delaware. Being the sixth child born, he came from a large family of ten...

's squadron during the Battle of Lake Champlain on 11 September 1814. Commanded by Lt. Stephen Cassin

Stephen Cassin

Stephen Cassin was an officer in the United States Navy.Born in Philadelphia, the son of naval officer John Cassin, Cassin entered the United States Navy as a midshipman in 1800, and served in Philadelphia in the West Indies during the latter part of the Quasi-War with France...

, Ticonderoga compelled sloop HMS Finch (formerly ) to surrender after riddling her with shot and forcing her aground. She also assisted in the capture of sloop HMS Chubb (formerly ), and repelled several boarding attempts by British gunboats. Midshipman Hiram Paulding

Hiram Paulding

Hiram Paulding was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, who served from the War of 1812 until after the Civil War.-Naval career:...

 was on board Ticonderoga during the battle and used his pistol to discharge a cannon when firing matches proved defective. During the two-and-one-half hour engagement, six members of Ticonderogas crew were killed, and six others were wounded.

After the war, Ticonderoga was laid up at Whitehall

Whitehall (village), New York

Whitehall is a village located in the town of Whitehall in Washington County, New York, USA. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. A decade later, she was pronounced unworthy of repair and sold at public sale on 19 July 1825.

She was rediscovered in 1958, raised and "salvaged" the next year; the wooden remains of this historic vessel are now on public display in Whitehall, New York. .