Nearly 250 Years Ago, Rhode Island Colonists Burned The Gaspee

PROVIDENCE, RI — For most Rhode Islanders, the word "Gaspee" calls to mind the annual festival held in Pawtuxet village. But June 9 marks an important date in Rhode Island history: the day in 1772 that American colonists burned the British ship Gaspee, which provided the inspiration for the yearly celebration.

King George III sent the ship, commanded by Lt. William Dudingston, to Rhode Island in March 1772. According to the Gaspee Archive, the ship was tasked with law enforcement and smuggling prevention.

"They made no friends amongst the colonists in harassing shipping and delaying, often unjustly, ships that had properly passed custom inspection in Newport," the archive said.

On June 9, 1772, a ship called the "Hannah" left Newport, headed to Providence. When the Gaspee followed, the Hannah's captain lured the ship into the shallows off Namquid Point, later renamed Gaspee Point, where it ran aground on the sandbar, trapped until the high tide arrived the next day.

In Providence, the Hannah's captain told John Brown, who assembled a group to destroy the British ship. That night, the group rowed out to the Gaspee, taking Dudingston and his crew prisoner and carrying them back to Pawtuxet Village.

Just before dawn June 10, the colonists lit the Gaspee on fire, burning her to the waterline, at which point the powder magazine exploded.

The burning helped spark the flame of revolution in the colonies, and "it was but a short step from here to the First Continental Congress and eventually the Declaration of Independence.," the archive wrote.

Read more about the burning of the Gaspee from The Gaspee Virtual Archives.