Technology & Engineering

The US Naval Air Station, Quonset Point, RI, was originally built as a Neutrality Patrol Seaplane Base.

The base eventually became a unique and fundamentally important asset to the American armed forces. In World War II, more than one half of all U-boats sunk by U. S. aviation—including the first two—were destroyed by Quonset-trained shore and carrier-based squadrons. In the years following World War II, Quonset remained a premier industrial naval air station, sending squadrons or overhauling equipment for use in the Korean, Vietnam, and Cold War conflicts. For thirty-four years and through four wars, the Quonset Point Naval Air Station stood proud and tall on behalf of the United States military.

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.

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.

Building the Mosquito Fleet: The U.S. Navy's First Torpedo Boats traces the important and often dramatic history of the involvement between the U.S. Navy and the Herreshoff brothers' marine yards over a period of more than thirty years. It is a story of enterprise, naval development, and marine manufacturing during a time of experimentation and evolution. Included are dramatic stories of the men who built and tested these dangerous new vessels. This fascinating volume preserves under one cover a concise history of the torpedo boats built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. It describes design and construction innovations introduced by the Herreshoffs and traces the events that led the major navies of the world to take notice of the Herreshoffs' work.

Newport is a premier destination, but getting to the city has not always been easy.

For three centuries, ferries crossed Narragansett Bay's East Passage. That all changed on June 28, 1969, the day the Newport Bridge opened, and it closed the last remaining gap between Aquidneck and Conanicut Islands. Proponents of the bridge persevered political squabbles and delays for twenty-five years following World War II to make it a reality. The longest suspension bridge in the region incorporated several new technologies and construction techniques and changed the face of Rhode Island. Author James Ricci details the trials and tribulations that produced an iconic bridge.

Well-illustrated and with fact-filled text, Slater Mill is a charming look back at a pivotal part of Pawtucket life.

As a working cotton mill, a space for varied types of manufacturing, and eventually as a project of historical preservation, the Slater Mill has played many roles in the history of Pawtucket. Leavitt's work includes such illuminating images as a turn-of-the-century bicycle shop, a crowded mill scene in the early twentieth century, and the transformation of the site into a tourist attraction in the 1920s. This volume also shows how the site was re-configured as a community museum in the 1950s and '60s, as well as how the industrial emphasis of the curators eventually resulted in the addition of a working water wheel to the site. Well-illustrated, with fact-filled text, Slater Mill is a charming look back at a pivotal part of Pawtucket life that will interest young and old alike.