May 17, 2006 — The remains of four ships sunk by the British during the American Revolution have been found in Newport Harbor, according to an announcement made yesterday by researchers from the University of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project.
The research team said the ships were part of a fleet of 13 British transport ships that brought troops and supplies into the American Colonies.
The British deliberately sank their own vessels in 1778, according to the researchers, to prevent a planned French bombardment and amphibious landing in Newport. The British occupied the coastal city from December 1776 to October 1779.
"It was common for men to scuttle their own vessels then," explained Rod Mather, who worked on the project, which was funded by NOAA and Rhode Island Sea Grant.
Mather, an associate professor of maritime history and underwater archaeology at URI, added, "The shipwrecks, with their masts sticking out, acted as a physical barrier in the water. In this instance, it was an act of defiance by the British. It must have worked to a certain extent because the French, who were threatening them with maneuvers, did not carry out the bombardment."
The American Revolution began as a colonial rebellion against the British government. In 1775, the British Parliament declared Massachusetts, the site of numerous protests against taxation and other issues, in rebellion. The British sent troops to Boston and later to other locations.
After the colonists won a key battle at Saratoga, New York, France predicted an American victory and went to war against the United Kingdom.
"The rebellion turned into an international Atlantic conflict," said Mather. "The British didn’t have enough of anything to combat the French so, in addition to blocking the Newport entry, the intentional shipwrecks prevented the French from capturing the vessels."
The wrecked ships are now pinned to the bottom of Newport Harbor by their own ballast stones, making them difficult to detect.
Using side-scan sonar, a technology that allows the three-dimensional mapping of large swaths of ocean floor, the researchers have found cannons marked with British broad armor and royal insignias strewn about the debris. They have also discovered ceramics, glass bottles, anchors and parts of pulleys, blocks, tackle and other rigging.
Mather and his team suspect that preserved sections of the ships’ lower hulls lie beneath the rocky debris.
So far, nine 18th century shipwrecks have been found off the Rhode Island coast, according to Mather, who said the state is home to the largest fleet of Revolutionary War shipwrecks in the world.
Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project Director Kathy Abbass told Discovery News that the recently found wrecks "are exactly where they should be, based on charts created by British engineers from 1778 to 1779."
She said one of the ships was the Lord Sandwich, originally named the Endeavor. Captain James Cook sailed the Endeavor on his famous 1768-1771 voyages across the Pacific Ocean, and to New Zealand and the eastern coast of Australia.
Mather says many shipwrecks are likely to be in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. Abbass suspects other Rhode Island shipwrecks remain undiscovered.
She said, "Some may have been salvaged or damaged due to activities like dredging, but we think more will be found here in future."
