Shipwreck · Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island
HMS Lark
A 32-gun Richmond-class frigate launched at Deptford in May 1762, one of the British squadron trapped in Narragansett Bay when Admiral d'Estaing's French fleet came in at the end of July 1778. With four French ships of the line north of Conanicut Island, Captain Richard Smith had her set on fire and her cables cut on 5 August 1778 so she would not be taken, and she drifted ashore and burned, one of ten British vessels destroyed by their own crews that week. What remains lies in the East Passage off the Portsmouth shore, listed on the National Register of Historic Places with the Cerberus as the Wreck Sites of HMS Cerberus and HMS Lark, and studied by the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project. The point is the Register's general one for the site, not a survey; the archaeologists' positions are not published, and the site is protected.
Open in the viewer from Beavertail Lighthouse, Jamestown →
Quick facts
| Type | Shipwreck, 32-gun fifth-rate frigate |
|---|---|
| Lost | 5 August 1778 |
| Built | 1762 |
| Depth | Not recorded |
| Position | 41.5201°N, 71.3303°W (approximate, ±1000 m) |
| Position known from | One rough record: approximate |
| From Beavertail Lighthouse, Jamestown | 9.7 km (6.1 mi), bearing 36° NE |
| Source | Wikipedia; National Register of Historic Places; Wikidata |
How to see it
Underwater, so there is nothing to see from the shore. From Beavertail Lighthouse, Jamestown, 9.7 km (6.1 mi) away, CoastFinder draws it below the horizon at its bearing and distance.
Further reading: HMS Lark (1762) on Wikipedia.
On the website for now. This shipwreck is in the web viewer first. The CoastFinder app covers the North Carolina coast today; follow @coastfinderapp to hear when more coasts arrive.
Nearby
- Bishop RockReef · 8.8 m · 202 m
- Bishop Rock ShoalShoal · 2.7 m · 444 m
- Coasters Harbor IslandIsland · 1.3 km
- Gould IslandIsland · 2.0 km
- Saint Patrick RockReef · 1.5 m · 2.4 km
- Citing RockReef · 2.1 m · 2.4 km
Not for navigation. Positions and depths come from public charts and records, with their sources named above; they are for looking, not for piloting a boat.