The Wreck Sites of HMS Cerberus and HMS Lark comprise a national historic site that is located in the waters of Narragansett Bay

Narragansett Bay

Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound. Covering 147 mi2 , the Bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor, and includes a small archipelago...

 adjacent to Aquidneck Island

Aquidneck Island

Aquidneck Island, located in the state of Rhode Island, is the largest island in Narragansett Bay. The island's official name is Rhode Island, and the common use of name "Aquidneck Island" helps distinguish the island from the state. The total land area is 97.9 km²...

 near South Portsmouth, Rhode Island

Portsmouth, Rhode Island

Portsmouth is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 17,389 at the 2010 U.S. Census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water. Most of its land area lies on Aquidneck...

.

History

HMS Cerberus

HMS Cerberus (1758)

HMS Cerberus was a 28 gun sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy.She was ordered on 6 May 1757 from the yards of Pleasant Fenn, East Cowes and was laid down on 13 June 1757. She was launched just over a year later on 5 September 1758. The ship was the target of an early torpedo attack by David...

 was a British ship built in 1758 and carrying 28 guns. The Cerberus was lost trying to avoid the French in 1778 around the time of the Battle of Rhode Island

Battle of Rhode Island

The Battle of Rhode Island, also known as the Battle of Quaker Hill and the Siege of Newport, took place on August 29, 1778. Continental Army and militia forces under the command of General John Sullivan were withdrawing to the northern part of Aquidneck Island after abandoning their siege of...

. HMS Lark

HMS Lark (1762)

HMS Lark was a 32-gun Richmond-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1762 and destroyed 1778 during the American Revolutionary War, in Narragansett Bay...

 was built in 1762 and carried 32 guns. It was set ablaze, exploded, and sank. The site of the wrecks was listed on the National Historic Register in 1973 as #73000061.

See also

Other military sites associated with the 1778 French expedition to Newport:

• Battle of Rhode Island Site
  Battle of Rhode Island Site
  Battle of Rhode Island Site, also known as Site of Battle of Rhode Island or Battle of Rhode Island Historic District, is the partially preserved location of the Battle of Rhode Island in 1778. It took place in the town of Portsmouth, on the island of Rhode Island, in the state of Rhode Island...
  
  
• Conanicut Battery
  Conanicut Battery
  Conanicut Battery is a colonial and 20th century military battery in Jamestown, Rhode Island, west of Beaver Tail Road.During the American revolution, the British occupied and rebuilt the colonial battery in 1776. During the early 20th century the U.S. military built large underground defensive...
  
  
• Fort Barton