Maritime

The use of lightships as navigation aids began in England with the shipping of coal from Newcastle to London. With disturbing frequency, ships foundered on the rocks and shoals at …
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With but few exceptions,[1] it has usually been surmised by historians that the 1772 attack on the Royal Navy schooner Gaspee was a spontaneous response to the accidental grounding of …
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Stanton Hazard  was born on January 8, 1743, into the prominent Hazard family of King’s (later Washington) County. He moved to Newport and, as with many young men, he took …
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In the summer of 2011 I received an excited phone call from my sister, Jane Buffum. She said: “Charlie found it! He found it!” I said: “Found what?” “The Revenge, …
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Rhode Island has a rich history intimately involved with maritime interests of every type from local fishermen to international commercial traders. And, as might be expected, as the number of …
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Contrary to the popular image of Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow character as an amiable buffoon, pirates in their day were usually cruel thugs, petty criminals, and international terrorists. Pirates had …
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The present Beavertail Light Station, with its 1856 granite light tower and two almost identical white painted brick keeper’s houses is located on Rhode Island’s Conanicut Island in the middle …
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On May 3, 1768, a man was killed in Newport, Rhode Island, in a fight on Thames Street near Green Dragon Lane.[1] Four days later, Sarah Goddard and John Carter …
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[Editor’s note:  The author of this article, Lynne Heinzmann, is the author of Frozen Voices, a wonderful new historical novel about the sinking of the SS Larchmont. She does a …
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The Korean War was raging during my college years and I was certain, on graduation, that I would be drafted into the army. I reduced my options to one of …
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