Lecture: Naval Activities in Rhode Island During the Revolutionary War with Dr. Kathy Abbass

On Wednesday, October 19, at 5:30 PM at the Rogers Free Library, 525 Hope Street in Bristol, Dr. Kathy Abbass of the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP) will present “Naval Activities in Rhode Island during the Revolutionary War” This talk is sponsored by the Battle of Rhode Island Association and the Bristol Historical and Preservation Society. Admission is free.

More than 200 vessels are known to have been lost in Rhode Island waters during the Revolutionary War. These include Royal Navy ships run ashore around Aquidneck Island and burned to avoid capture, British-owned transports, and victualers scuttled in Newport harbor to prevent the threatening French fleet from entering the harbor, and colonial craft destroyed by British and German auxiliaries during raids in Warren, RI. In this talk, Dr. Abass will discuss the ships involved in the naval events of the Battle of Rhode Island in 1778 and give an update on RIMAP’s search for the HMS Gaspee.

RIMAP was created in 1992 to include members of the diving and non-diving public in a
professionally organized and directed effort to study Rhode Island’s maritime history and marine archaeology. RIMAP is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization with an interest in the maritime history and marine archaeology of Narragansett Bay, the Sounds, the state’s rivers and other inland waters, and how all of these connect Rhode Island to the wider world.

Dr. Abbass received her Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University with post-doctoral studies at Harvard and Berkeley. She taught for 10 years at Norfolk State University, apprenticed for 4 years at SurveyYacht in Newport, and for 2 years as the Director of Newport’s Museum of Yachting. She founded RIMAP in 1993 and has served as its Executive Director and Principal Investigator.

The event is free but donations are welcomed.  We hope to see you there!

Zoom information located on lower left of page from Event Brite.

The Bristol Historical &Preservation Society is located today at 48 Court Street in an 1828 jail built of granite blocks reportedly used as ballast in early Bristol sailing ships. It was founded in 1936 to promote the history of the town of Bristol. The Society has also been instrumental in the formation of four other museums: The Bristol Art Museum (1962), the Coggeshall Farm and Museum (1968), the Friends of Linden Place (1990) and the Bristol State House Museum (1996).

The Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP) was created in 1992 to include members of the diving and non-diving public in a professionally organized and directed effort to study Rhode Island’s maritime history and marine archaeology. RIMAP is a federally approved 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization with an interest in the maritime history and marine archaeology of Narragansett Bay, the Sounds, the state’s rivers and other inland waters, and how all of these connect Rhode Island to the wider world.

The BUTTS HILL FORT RESTORATION COMMITTEE is a committee of the BATTLE OF RHODE ISLAND ASSOCIATION. The mission of the Committee is to restore and maintain the Revolutionary War fort in order to provide a safe and accessible educational and recreational site that raises public interest in this National Historic Landmark and its role in the Battle of Rhode Island. The Association is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit committed to raising awareness of Rhode Island’s role in the War for Independence.  Donations may be made payable to “BoRIA” at PO Box 626, Portsmouth, RI 02871.