 The two sides set about building fleets : the British at Saint @-@ Jean and the Americans at the other end of the lake in Skenesborough ( present @-@ day Whitehall , New York ) . While planning Quebec 's defenses in 1775 , General Carleton had anticipated the problem of transportation on Lake Champlain , and had requested the provisioning of prefabricated ships from Europe . By the time Carleton 's army reached Saint @-@ Jean , ten such ships had arrived . These ships and more were assembled by skilled shipwrights on the upper Richelieu River . Also assembled there was HMS Inflexible , a 180 @-@ ton warship they disassembled at Quebec City and transported upriver in pieces . In total , the British fleet ( 25 armed vessels ) had more firepower than the Americans ' 15 vessels , with more than 80 guns outweighing the 74 smaller American guns . Two of Carleton 's ships , Inflexible ( 18 12 @-@ pounders ) and HMS Thunderer ( six 24 @-@ pound guns , six 12 @-@ pound guns , and two howitzers ) , by themselves outgunned the combined firepower of the American fleet . In addition to Inflexible and Thunderer , the fleet included the schooners Maria ( 14 guns ) , Carleton ( 12 guns ) , and Loyal Convert ( 6 guns ) , and 20 single @-@ masted gunboats each armed with two cannons . 
