Rhode Island Shipwrecks
Rhode Island, the Ocean State, has more shipwrecks per square mile than any other state. The south coast and Block Island are the resting places of many shipwrecks, with many more located in Narragansett Bay. The record of shipwrecks in Rhode Island begins immediately after the arrival of Europeans in the early 17th century with the grounding of a Dutch trading vessel, and thousands more vessels came to grief in its waters in the following centuries, through bad weather, human error, equipment failure, and military action.
