HMS Cerberus
Frigate · Great Britain · Lost 1778 · Narragansett Bay & the Rhode Island Coast
A British frigate scuttled by her own crew in Narragansett Bay in 1778 rather than face a French fleet, and rediscovered two centuries later.
The Vessel and Her Loss
HMS Cerberus was a 28-gun Royal Navy frigate that had blockaded Narragansett Bay since 1776. When a French fleet allied with the Americans entered the bay in August 1778, her captain ran her aground and set her afire off Portsmouth's Aquidneck Island rather than let her be taken. The wreck lay forgotten for nearly two centuries before researchers relocated it in the 1970s.
Vessel
- 1758
- Not established
- Not established
- Wood
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Sail, full-rigged ship
- Royal Navy
Loss
- August 5, 1778
- Intentional sinking
- Narragansett Bay, off Carr Point, Portsmouth, Rhode Island
- Narragansett Bay
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Symonds
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Site listed on the National Register of Historic Places jointly with HMS Lark; remains largely disarticulated.
- Not established
- 1970s
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Wreck Sites of HMS Cerberus and HMS Lark (1973)
Position
- 41.58° N 71.31° W
- Approximate position
- Portsmouth, Rhode Island (Aquidneck Island)
Coordinate is the NRHP-listed location for the joint Cerberus/Lark wreck site off western Aquidneck Island; not a precise position for Cerberus alone.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (78/100)
Depth, orientation, and the extent of surviving structure at the site are not established in the sources reviewed.
NOAA Ocean Explorer (AUVfest 2008)
Vessel history, loss circumstances, rediscovery.
National Register of Historic Places listing: Wreck Sites of HMS Cerberus and HMS Lark
Loss date, location, NRHP status, ship specifications.
