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> It was scuttled in 1778 along with 12 other ships to act as a blockade in the lead up to the battle of Rhode Island. Why would sinking a ship act as a blocka

> It was scuttled in 1778 along with 12 other ships to act as a blockade in the lead up to the battle of Rhode Island. Why would sinking a ship act as a blockade? I can see if it was in shallow water, but I'm presuming these shipwrecks are in deeper water since they're only now being discovered.

chrsstrm 8y ago
Well, this is just a random guess, but as you can see here [0], the navigation channel where a linked article roughly located the wreck [1] seems to vary in depth between 50-120'. Looking at a similar style ship from the same timeframe [2], we see a main mast height taller than the water depth in that location. I would imagine if you scuttled the ships in a precise pattern, it would make it incredibly difficult for a ship under wind power to enter the port and avoid hitting the mast of a scuttled ship. I just happened to be in Newport this summer and learned about the area's history. The people who lived there were very accomplished seamen and I would not doubt their knowledge was put to good use in setting up that blockade. [0] http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/13223.shtml http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/13223.shtml [1] https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/hms-endeavour-found-one-of-the-greatest-maritime-mysteries-of-all-time-solved-20180919-p504lx.html https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/hms-endeavour-fou... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution
- ilikepi 8y ago
  It's a little odd that the article says this: > The site is located just off Goat Island, a small island in the Narragansett Bay. ...but the map in the article doesn't actually reflect this. The little red circle is southwest of Brenton Point, and it's a couple miles away from the vicinity of Goat Island. I guess whomever put the map together phoned it in...or decided there wasn't enough room on the map to place the circle more accurately.
deleted 8y ago
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chrsstrm 8y ago

Well, this is just a random guess, but as you can see here [0], the navigation channel where a linked article roughly located the wreck [1] seems to vary in depth between 50-120'. Looking at a similar style ship from the same timeframe [2], we see a main mast height taller than the water depth in that location. I would imagine if you scuttled the ships in a precise pattern, it would make it incredibly difficult for a ship under wind power to enter the port and avoid hitting the mast of a scuttled ship. I just happened to be in Newport this summer and learned about the area's history. The people who lived there were very accomplished seamen and I would not doubt their knowledge was put to good use in setting up that blockade. [0] http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/13223.shtml http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/13223.shtml [1] https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/hms-endeavour-found-one-of-the-greatest-maritime-mysteries-of-all-time-solved-20180919-p504lx.html https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/hms-endeavour-fou... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution

ilikepi 8y ago
It's a little odd that the article says this: > The site is located just off Goat Island, a small island in the Narragansett Bay. ...but the map in the article doesn't actually reflect this. The little red circle is southwest of Brenton Point, and it's a couple miles away from the vicinity of Goat Island. I guess whomever put the map together phoned it in...or decided there wasn't enough room on the map to place the circle more accurately.

deleted 8y ago

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