The Wreck Sites of HMS ''Cerberus'' and HMS ''Lark'' are located in the waters of

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 ...

on the west side of

Aquidneck Island Aquidneck Island, also known as Rhode Island, is an island in Narragansett Bay in the state of Rhode Island. The total land area is , which makes it the largest island in the bay. The 2020 United States Census reported its population as 60,109. T ...

near South Portsmouth, Rhode Island.

History

HMS ''Cerberus'' was a frigate 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 ...

built in 1758 and carrying 28 guns. HMS ''Lark'', also a frigate, was built in 1762 and carried 32 guns. ''Cerberus'' had been stationed off Rhode Island as part of a blockade of its ports since April 1776, and was joined by ''Lark'' in February 1777. Upon the arrival of a large French fleet off

in late July 1778, the two ships were among the twenty British vessels in the bay which were then tasked to defend British-occupied

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

. Stationed in the northern stretch of the East Passage (separating Aquidneck and Conanicut Islands), the two ships were ordered to Newport, with instructions to not surrender to the enemy. While en route to Newport on August 5, the two ships were sighted by 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 ...

. On 8, the 64-gun ''Fantasque'' and the frigates ''Aimable'', ''Chimère'' and ''Engageante'', under Pierre André de Suffren, entered the Bay.Cunat, p.37 Rather than engage on a lopsided battle that would have ended in their surrender, the two captains decided to scuttle their ships. Captain Symonds ran ''Cerberus'' aground, put the crew ashore, and set fire to the ship, while Captain White did the same with ''Lark''. Two other British frigates, ''Orpheus'' and ''Juno'', suffered the same fate. When ''Lark''s gunpowder magazine was reached by the flames, it exploded, sending debris flying for miles around. The wrecks of all four ships lay essentially undisturbed until the 1970s, when an archaeological team located portions of ''Lark'', ''Cerberus'', and ''Orpheus''. As of 2008, the full extent of the wreck sites has not been established, and only fragmentary evidence of the ships has been recovered. The site of the wrecks of ''Cerberus'' and ''Lark'' was 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 ...

in 1973.

Citations

References

* {{DISPLAYTITLE:Wreck Sites of HMS ''Cerberus'' and HMS ''Lark'' Shipwrecks of the Rhode Island coast Portsmouth, Rhode Island Maritime incidents in 1778 Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island

History

See also

Citations

References