Narragansett Bay at Warwick

The waters of Narragansett Bay off Warwick were the scene of the Gaspee Affair and the broader struggle over British customs enforcement that preceded the Revolution. Rhode Island's colonial economy depended on trade that sometimes violated British regulations; the revenue schooners like Gaspee enforced those regulations aggressively. The bay's geography — numerous coves, islands, and inlets — made it ideal for smuggling and for the kind of night raid that destroyed the Gaspee.