About Varoujan Karentz

[Most of this article was written in 2003 and is based on information at that time. The information has not been updated, except in a few spots where noted.]

Based …
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One of the significant stories of World War II emanating from the United States is the sinking of the German U-Boat 853 in Rhode Island waters on May 5, 1945, …
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Rhode Island’s first lighthouse was constructed in 1749 on Beavertail Point, the southern tip of Conanicut Island (better known as Jamestown). Initially named Newport Light, Beavertail followed Massachusetts’s 1716 Boston …
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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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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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Spraycliff Observatory, located on the Beavertail peninsula on Conanicut Island (the town of Jamestown), was a top secret World War II facility. The activities of Spraycliff Observatory provided a …
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[Editor’s note: This article is a synopsis of the book by Varoujan Karentz, The Life Savers, Rhode Island’s Forgotten Service (Charleston, SC: CreateSpace, 2012), ISBN-13-978-1463791025, and also contains excerpts from …
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