Rhode Island

Rhode Island's contribution to World War II vastly exceeded its small size.

Narragansett Bay was an armed camp dotted by army forts and navy facilities. They included the country's most important torpedo production and testing facilities at Newport and the Northeast's largest naval air station at Quonset Point. Three special, top-secret German POW camps were based in Narragansett and Jamestown. Meanwhile, Rhode Island workers from all over the state - including, for the first time, many women - manufactured military equipment and built warships, most notably the Liberty ships at Providence Shipyard. Authors from the Rhode Island history blog smallstatebighistory.com trace Rhode Island's outsized wartime role, from the scare of an enemy air raid after Pearl Harbor to the war's final German U-boat sunk off Point Judith.

The United States Naval Air Station at Quonset Point, Rhode Island, originally built as a Neutrality Patrol seaplane base, became a unique and fundamental asset to our nation's armed forces.

In World War II, more than half of all U-boats sunk by U. S. aviation were destroyed by Quonset-trained shore and carrier-based squadrons. In the years following World War II, Quonset Point Naval Air Station remained a premier industrial naval air station, sending squadrons or overhauling equipment for use in the Korean, Vietnam, and Cold War conflicts. For 34 years and through four wars, the Quonset Point Naval Air Station stood proud and tall on behalf of the U. S. military. This second volume of Quonset Point images uncovers nearly 200 more scenes of the installation's achievements and activities during the entire period of its service.

Never before seen photographs of the U.S. Naval Construction Battalion Center at Davisville document the accomplishments of those once stationed here.

The U.S. Naval Construction Battalion Center at Davisville, Rhode Island, is first remembered as the original ""Home of the Atlantic Seabees."" During World War II, 100 battalions as well as dozens of other U.S. Navy ""Builder-Fighter"" units were formed, outfitted, trained, and prepared for overseas deployment. Here, in the first photographic history of the base, is the story of the men and women who came to Davisville and their legacy of superb accomplishments in the service of their country. Established on February 27, 1942, the base was designated to manufacture and ship overseas materials and equipment and to outfit and embark construction battalions and other naval units. Between 1942 and 1994, when the base was closed, the Seabees participated in every war involving the United States. The Quonset Hut and the Davisville Pontoons were both developed at the Davisville Seabee Center. The base has schooled and trained thousands of officers and tens of thousands of Seabees.

Dutch Island and Fort Greble, a fascinating visual journey through the past, will delight and educate both the avid historian and the casual observer.

Dutch Island is an 81-acre island situated at the southern end of the West Passage to Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. It served an important role in our country's military history, from its acquisition by the United States Army in 1864 until its closing by the military in 1947.

This volume is the first pictorial history illustrating the military development and facilities of Fort Greble on Dutch Island, spanning the period from the Civil War to World War II. Readers will step back in time and wander through the early earthworks and different incarnations of Fort Greble, stroll along the pristine parade ground before it was covered in briar and bramble, gaze upon the huge coastal artillery guns pointing toward the sea, and watch uniformed soldiers performing their duties on this fortified island.

Author Walter K. Schroder, author of Defenses of Narragansett Bay, has compiled an amazing collection of photographs, many from the official federal archives, that detail and examine a memorable chapter in our country's military past.

The visual history of the navy in Newport from mercantile trade to world war and the Naval War College.

Known throughout the world as ""The City by the Sea,"" Newport, Rhode Island, has a long history of maritime activity. Since the Colonial period, Newport has been recognized as both an important seaport for the mercantile trade and a harbor of inestimable value for naval vessels. I n 1869, the U. S. Navy opened its pioneer site in the region, the Naval Torpedo station on Goat Island in Newport harbor. The Naval War College on Coasters Harbor Island and the Naval Training Station soon followed. The navy's presence expanded through two world wars; and in the 1940s the U. S. Naval Operating Base with headquarters in Newport, included extensive naval facilities on both sides of Narragansett Bay. Today, Newport remains an integral site of naval training, research, and development. The prestigious Naval War College, the Naval Education and Training Center, and other navy command schools, in addition to the Naval Undersea Warfare Center with its Division Newport, have kept this branch of the armed services a leading employer in Rhode Island and southeastern New England.

For 150 years, Fort Adams guarded the strategic entrance to Narragansett Bay and Newport Harbor. It was the largest coastal fortification in the United States, and though the site never saw a battle, its history is shadowed with dark tragedy. The fort witnessed its first death in 1819 when Private William G. Cornell shot Private William Kane point-blank and without remorse over an unknown argument. Unfortunately, more tragedy would follow. In 1871, twenty-eight-year-old George F. Drake slit his own throat after his sweetheart ended their relationship. And in 1879, Private Franz Koppe was mysteriously attacked, later dying of his injuries. The Spanish influenza arrived at Fort Adams in 1918, killing five soldiers in one month. Through these stories of life and death, author Kathleen Troost-Cramer traces the history of this national landmark.