PLATTSBURGH — Lake Champlain historians are trying to stay ahead of a new invader that may threaten one of the lake's most treasured artifacts.

The American gunboat Spitfire, heavily damaged by the British during the Oct. 11, 1776, Battle of Valcour, was abandoned on the open waters of Lake Champlain later that night.

SINKING OF SPITFIRE
American Commander Benedict Arnold and his remaining fleet had skillfully slipped from the battle site under cover of darkness following the skirmish, passing the British blockade in single file as his boats retreated south on the main lake.

Hours later, the Spitfire vanished beneath the surface and settled on the murky lake bottom some 200 feet below.

NATIONAL TREASURE
It would become the lost vessel from Arnold's valiant effort to combat a much larger British invasion.

The boat would not be seen again until 1997, when an underwater survey of the lake bottom conducted by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum uncovered the intact vessel.

The boat, preserved by the deep lake's cold water, remains in pristine shape and has been named an official project of the federal program called Save America's Treasures.

'CATASTROPHE'
Thus far, the wreck has been protected from the lake's invasion of zebra mussels because it is too deep for the mollusks to inhabit.

But a threat is on the horizon as another invading mollusk, the quagga mussel, has already established itself in Lake Ontario.

"Quagga mussels will eventually get here and will colonize the site," said Art Cohn, executive director for the Maritime Museum, noting that quagga mussels tend to favor deeper waters than zebra mussels but still have the power to decimate any site they colonize.

"We know that when they arrive, it could be a catastrophe for the Spitfire. We've seen it happen to shipwrecks in Lake Ontario."

TO RAISE OR NOT
Cohn, who heads an annual dive team that visits the Spitfire to update its condition from year to year, has begun an educational drive to identify the best options for protecting the priceless artifact.

"We have two basic options: preservation on site or recovery, conservation and public exhibition."

Traditionally, historians do not always like to remove relics from the lake, but that sometimes becomes a preferable option when the artifact is threatened by changes in the environment.

The Maritime Museum is seeking input from the public on what people feel is the best option for protecting the Spitfire.

TV SHOW
A one-hour television broadcast to be aired on WCFE Mountain Lake, Channel 57, at 8 tonight highlights the history of the Spitfire, including video footage taken by divers during a recent survey.

E-mail Jeff Meyers at: jmeyers@pressrepublican.com