Whale Rock or Submarine Rock is the smallest island 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. Sm ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

. It is located in the West Passage of the bay in Narragansett,

Washington County, Rhode Island Washington County, known locally as South County, is a county located in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,839. Rhode Island counties have no governmental functions other than as court administrativ ...

, west of the Beavertail area on

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 t ...

. The island received its names because it is shaped like a whale's back or a submarine's bow. It was responsible for numerous shipwrecks prior to the construction of a lighthouse. Whale Rock Light was built on the rock in 1882; it was destroyed by the

1938 New England hurricane The 1938 New England Hurricane (also referred to as the Great New England Hurricane and the Long Island Express Hurricane) was one of the deadliest and most destructive tropical cyclones to strike Long Island, New York, and New England. The storm ...

, which also claimed the life of keeper Walter Eberle. Part of the lighthouse's foundation can still be seen.

References and external links

Islands of Narragansett Bay
*Frederic Denlson, ''Narragansett Sea and Shore'', (J.A. & R.A. Reid, Providence, RI., 1879) *George L. Seavey, ''Rhode Island's Coastal Natural Areas.'' Islands of Washington County, Rhode Island Islands of Narragansett Bay Islands of Rhode Island {{RhodeIsland-geo-stub