Roger Williams purchased the fertile Aquidneck Island from the Narragansett tribe in 1637. It was here that Anne Hutchinson, along with William Coddington and other colonists who had been banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, found shelter from persecution. The intrepid dissenters of Rhode Island Colony saw their community flourish with the founding of Portsmouth and Newport townships. The Battle of Rhode Island was the only clash between

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Rhode Island, "the Ocean State," consists of only 1,200 square miles, and one-quarter of the state is tidewater. With over 350 miles of coastline, a third of the citizens live within a mile of the seashore. The Narragansett Bay, spanning 102 square miles, is the heart of the state. From the early 19th to the mid-20th century, the shell and finfish industries flourished within the bay. Amusement parks and seaside dining halls sprang up on both sides.

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Author Richard V. Simpson (who also penned Herreshoff Yachts) offers up a diverse sampling of fascinating and entertaining stories that explore Bristol's every facet from early investigations into possible Viking settlements on the peninsula to the nationally famous Fourth of July celebration, and from the antics of local politicians to the yachts and sailors that have brought the town glory and renown.

Tiverton and Little Compton sit perched off the mainland of Rhode Island, where they have carved out a unique culture and history for centuries. The sketches contained in this book provide an in-depth look at the region, tracing its evolution through architecture, like the Nathaniel Briggs House, believed to be the oldest in the region; through industry, detailing the establishment of the Old Colony and Newport Railroad; and through some of the region's...

Weak maritime nations have always sought to augment the strength of their coastal defenses and navies by the use of "diabolical" contrivances for destroying an invader's ships. The history of the adoption of the torpedo as a recognized implement of warfare is not unlike that of gunpowder or of exploding shells. Each in its turn was met by the cry, "Inhuman, barbarous, unchivalrous." During the American Civil War, the Confederate Navy employed submerged...

In 1877, the U.S. Navy purchased the fast steam yacht Stiletto from the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol, Rhode Island, for "automobile" torpedo experiments in Narragansett Bay. The submarine service was in its infancy, and interest in the self-propelled torpedo as an undersea weapon flourished. Herreshoff's fast, steam-powered boats were the first of the delivery platforms accepted by the U.S. Navy Department for experiments at the Newport...