Mystery wreck off Gaspee Point starting to break up

By John Howell
Posted 7/26/16

By JOHN HOWELL Greene Island is disappearing. In fact, at high tide there's nothing of it, which likely means it is no longer an island and should probably be removed from city maps and navigational charts. But at low tide there's still a couple of acres

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Mystery wreck off Gaspee Point starting to break up

Posted

Greene Island is disappearing.

In fact, at high tide there’s nothing of it, which likely means it is no longer an island and should probably be removed from city maps and navigational charts. But at low tide there’s still a couple of acres of sand. Its most prominent feature is closest to the southerly end of Gaspee Point. It’s a shipwreck more than 120 feet long. It is starting to go, too.

The wreck and one immediately below the point haven’t been identified but are thought to be from the late 19th or early 20th centuries. The two wrecks have been dubbed the “Not the Gaspee” by state Rep. Joseph McNamara, who teamed up with the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project to study them.  Last summer at this time, project executive director Dr. Kathy Abbass and a group of volunteers, who went through training with Abbass, mapped out the remains of the two vessels. They were back last week, and they were surprised.

“We know this thing is breaking up,” Abbass told a group of volunteers gathered around a picnic table Thursday afternoon.

Abbass, McNamara and a few others had already visited “the island,” and while the remains of the vessel are distinctive at low tide, they could tell planking was missing and sections of the wreck’s stern that had been buried in sand last year are now exposed.

Last year, in the shallows of the island, the crew also found a pile of rocks. That piqued Abbass’ interest, along with an oval shaped piece of wood that she believes may have come from cask similar to those made in the 18th century. Abbass wanted to have a look at the rocks and to map them. That would be one of the tasks of the group Thursday along with measurements from the wreck to be compared to the data gathered last year.

“There’s a section of stones,” she said to the group that had come dressed in shorts and wearing water shoes and flip-flops to wade out to the wreck. “They look to be ballast. We want to map that feature.”

Abbass made sure to stress the word “feature,” for until they could be identified as anything more than a pile of rocks they wouldn’t earn the right to be deemed of archeological significance. Once on the island, the rocks that had been a foot under water last year were partially exposed. A 30-foot rectangle using sticks at the corners was laid out, with the largest grouping of rocks close to the center. The rectangle was then divided into squares and with pens and paper they were drawn.

Vessels picked up and discharged ballast as needed, so conceivably at some point the rocks had been heaved overboard to lighten a ship, maybe one that had run aground in the shallows of Greene Island. Conceivably, the rocks never left the innards of a ship and now, like a tombstone, mark the grave of another vessel buried in the sand.

Navigational charts show a third wreck north of the island and outside Occupasstuxet Cove. Abbass hasn’t set out to find that wreck yet.

And then there’s the unanswered question of the Gaspee’s location. The story of how the British ship Gaspee ran aground on the shallows of Namquid Point while chasing the colonial vessel Hannah and then was set ablaze has been called the nation’s “first blow for freedom.”  The burning took place on the night of June 9, 1772, preceding the Boston Tea Party, which is commonly referred to as the first act of rebellion.

McNamara believes the remains of the Gaspee are still out there. He relates that following the Great Hurricane of 1938, an extreme low tide followed the storm surge that wiped out coastal areas. There is a report that a wreck was seen off Gaspee Point at that time, McNamara said. Also, he said “side sonar” shows something in the area.

But for the moment, as the name of the project states, this is “not the Gaspee.” How the vessels got to where they are, and their history, remain mysteries. Accurate measurements and recordings of what remains may someday tell their story.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here