20. The British fleet was larger and more powerful than their American opponent
Carleton had ordered the acquisition of ships which were built in Europe, disassembled and carried to the Americas in transports, and reassembled by experience shipwrights in Canada. Through this foresight, he assembled a fleet of 25 ships and gunboats, armed with a total of more than 80 guns, and manned by experienced officers and sailors of the Royal Navy. To stop the British Arnold assembled 15 ships and gunboats, with a total of 74 guns. The British also disassembled HMS Inflexible at Quebec, transported it to St. Johns, and reassembled it for service on Lake Champlain. The vessel alone mounted 18 guns, vastly more than any of Arnold’s fleet.
While the fleet was being constructed at Skenesborough, Arnold patrolled the lake aboard a schooner, Royal Savage. Arnold, though serving in the army, had been a merchant and sailor before the war. Using his experience and his knowledge of the lake, Arnold carefully scouted for a site to give battle where the more powerful British fleet would find its movements restricted, lessening its advantage over the Americans.