Rose Island is an 18.5-acre sentry in Narragansett Bay just south of the Newport Pell Bridge. It has had numerous lives and is currently a popular tourist venue. There are two National Register properties on the island: the lighthouse and the remains of Fort Hamilton. This article is about the lighthouse. The lighthouse was built […]
Bob Cembrola
Bob Cembrola grew up in Warren, R.I. a stones throw from the Narragansett Bay. He was constantly in, on and under the water, forever intrigued by what was on the bottom. He graduated from Warren High School in 1972 and immediately began studying anthropology at URI the same year. In 1973 URI offered a field school diving on HMS Orpheus and HMS Cerberus both scuttled in Narragansett Bay in 1778 at the approach of a superior French fleet. After graduating from URI with a B.A. he went to Boston University for his M.A. in Archaeological Studies, while there he was required to complete a field school and was fortunate to get a scholarship for more underwater study. Texas A&M began excavating the sunken city of Port Royal, Jamaica in 1981 and Bob was able to spend the summer of 1982 excavating the remains of several buildings submerged by an earthquake in 1692. Port Royal was a pirate filled outpost where rumor has it that there was one tavern for every 10 people. This experience lit Bob's pirate fuse and returning home seemed to offer a sudden end to any more swashbuckling adventures. As fate would have it when he got back to R.I. he learned of the discovery of the pirate ship Whydah on Cape Cod and managed to talk his way onto the project as researcher and archaeologist. The Whydah sank in a storm in 1717 on what is now Marconi Beach in Wellfleet. The adventure was huge but the salary was too low to support his new marriage in 1983 and Bob was forced to take a job in 1984 as Executive Director of the Fall River, Mass. Marine Museum. Bob agreed to keep my fingers in the Whydah project until a replacement for me could be found. Fortunately for Bob, he did because in 1984 he was able to confirm they had indeed located the first ever pirate shipwreck. Bob managed to sneak away and keep his pirate fuse glowing and in 1985 they found her bell putting to rest any doubts over her identity.
In 1989, Bob was again fortunate, securing a job as curator at the Naval War College Museum in Newport retiring in 2021. While there Bob taught an elective course on shipwrecks and naval history and once again a shipwreck called him. Two friends contacted Bob about a site they located in Westerly. Bob identified it as USS Revenge lost in 1811, the first command of Oliver Hazard Perry.
Bob still consults on Whydah and other wrecks in Massachusetts and regularly give talks on these projects.
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Bob Cembrola: USS Revenge and Oliver Hazard Perry
In May of 2006, I got a call from Craig Harger and Charlie Buffum of Conneticut. They had just visited me at Naval War College (NWC) to attend my elective class, “Shipwrecks and Naval History,” and had apparently decided that I was not a stuffy and self-righteous academic. They asked if I would dive on […]
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Bob Cembrola: Matthew Calbraith Perry’s legacy extends far beyond Naval innovation
If the Perrys of Newport had been professional wrestlers, they would have been the tag team champs of the 19th century. It is difficult to imagine a more impactful brother act than Oliver Hazard and his younger brother Matthew Calbraith. Both achieved great fame in their lifetimes, but Mathew got to enjoy quite a bit […]
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Bob Cembrola: Portsmouth’s Lovell General Hospital played a large role in the Civil War
Although no Civil War battles took place in Rhode Island, a hospital in Portsmouth, Rhode Island played a large role in caring for wounded on both sides of the conflict. In an area now known as the Melville Marina District, this hospital sat on ground that has seen numerous significant events in the last three […]
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Bob Cembrola: Discovery of British frigates and the University of Rhode Island
After years of oppressive British policies which stifled commerce in Narragansett Bay and surrounding communities, the Colony of R.I. and Providence Plantations renounced allegiance to the Crown on May 4, 1776: “Whereas George the third, forgetting his dignity, instead of protecting, is endeavoring to destroy the good people of this colony by sending fleets and […]
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Bob Cembrola: Newport and Navy diving
Mention Newport to most people and their first thoughts will be of mansions, yachting and colonial homes. Others will recall their time served at the Naval War College or at one of the many schools at Naval Station Newport, earning it the title of “Campus of the Navy.” Many others will fondly recall being stationed […]