Wreck P, identified as the diesel ferry Roosevelt II(1923), also received ROV investigation. The hull remains have settled into the bottom of the lake to deck level. The bulwarks along the side of the vessel are constructed of steel and the deck appears to be made of wood, but the remainder of the hull is too far buried to determine its construction materials. The wood-framed pilot house, sitting in the center of the vessel, has windows all around it, although all of their glass is broken out. The vessel’s name is prominently displayed on the stern and both sides of the pilot house. The supports for the ship’s wheel are visible inside the pilot house, although the wheel itself is not present. A hatch leading to the engine room is clearly marked with a “Keep Out” sign. Roosevelt II’s smokestack rises in front of the pilot house and seems to be broken at its upper end. The stern of the vessel is completely covered with thick silt, and no details are visible.
Roosevelt II was a wood hulled diesel ferry built at Nyack, New York by Dwight W. Simpson for the Plattsburgh-Grand Isle Ferry Company of Plattsburgh New York. She was launched on September 1, 1923. Her enrollment papers describe her as an oil screw ferry having one deck, no masts, a square head and square stern. Her registered dimensions were 33.2 m (108.8 ft) length, 8.5 m (27.8 ft.) beam and 2.5 m (8.15 ft) depth. Registered Tonnage was 126 gross and 106 net. The ferry had a 94 IHP diesel engine made by the Wolverine Motor Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1923. She was assigned Official Number 223266 on September 4, 1923.
ROV photo of Roosevelt II’s transom and photo of the Ferry Roosevelt II in operation
The Roosevelt was in the service of the Plattsburgh-Grand Isle Ferry Company from 1924 until 1937 when it was taken over by Horace W. Corbin’s recently acquired Champlain Transportation Company. Corbin sold the ferry to the new Lake Champlain Transportation Company (LCTC) in 1948 which operated the ferry until it was scuttled in 1959.
Information Source :
Sabick, C., A. Lessman, and S. McLaughlin, Lake Champlain Underwater Cultural Resources Survey, Volume II: 1997 Results and Volume III: 1998 Results. Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, 2000.