The Historical Shipwrecks album is dedicated to pictures of artifacts from shipwrecks relevant to our period. The first addition is this gallery of images relating to the HMS Cerberus and HMS Orpheus.
On 29 July 1778, a French fleet under Admiral Comte d’Estaing arrived in Narragansett Bay as allies of the Americans in their war for independence. While preparing to attack British-occupied Newport, French warships moved to intercept four Royal Navy frigates operating in the bay. On 5 August, the British commanders burned and sunk all four ships, including the 28-gun Cerberus and 32-gun Orpheus, to avoid capture.
Text and images courtesy of the Naval War College Museum unless otherwise noted.
Dr. Maturin suggests further reading: