HMS ''Lark'' was a 32-gun

Richmond-class frigate The ''Richmond''-class frigates were 32-gun sailing frigates of the fifth rate produced for the Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from t ...

fifth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal N ...

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. She was launched in 1762 and destroyed in

Narragansett Bay Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering , of which is in Rhode Island. The bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. Sma ...

in 1778, during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. Between 29 May and 18 July, the British captured a number of vessels: the sloops ''Sally'' and ''Fancy'',

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

''Baron D'Ozell'', ''Olive Branch'', sloop ''Betsey'', and schooner ''Sally''. ''Lark'' shared the prize money with , , , and the ''Pigot'' galley. French Admiral d'Estaing's squadron arrived in Narragansett Bay on 29 July 1778 to support the American army under General George Washington during the

battle of Rhode Island The Battle of Rhode Island (also known as the Battle of Quaker Hill) took place on August 29, 1778. Continental Army and Militia forces under the command of Major General John Sullivan had been besieging the British forces in Newport, Rhode Isl ...

. On 30 July, four French

ships of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colum ...

entered Narrangansett Bay and positioned themselves north of

Conanicut Island Conanicut Island is the second-largest island in Narragansett Bay in the American state of Rhode Island. It is connected on the east to Newport on Aquidneck Island via the Claiborne Pell Bridge, commonly known as the Newport Bridge, and on th ...

to support the American and French forces in the

. The arrival of the French vessels trapped several British vessels, ''Lark'' among them. On 5 August 1778, as ''Lark'' lay off Newport, Captain Richard Smith had her set on fire and her cables cut. She then drifted on to shore.Hepper (1994), p. 52. The Royal Navy ended up having to destroy ten of their own vessels in all. The remains of ''Lark'' are now part of a site listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, the " Wreck Sites of HMS ''Cerberus'' and HMS ''Lark''."

Citations

References

* Robert Gardiner, ''The First Frigates'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. . * * David Lyon, ''The Sailing Navy List'', Conway Maritime Press, London 1993. . * Rif Winfield, ''

British Warships in the Age of Sail ''British Warships in the Age of Sail'' is a series of four books by maritime historian Rif Winfield comprising a historical reference work providing details of all recorded ships that served or were intended to serve in the (British) Royal Navy ...

, 1714 to 1792'', Seaforth Publishing, London 2007. . 1762 ships Ships built on the River Thames Archaeology of shipwrecks Shipwrecks of the Rhode Island coast Maritime incidents in 1778 Fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy Richmond-class frigates {{UK-frigate-stub