Wednesday, September 2, 2015

NEW THAMES, NEW LONDON, NEW ENGLAND -- originally the Pequot River, it changed the name when New London was officially thus named in 1658.

Speranza



The Thames River, seen from the waterfront inNew London, Connecticut

















The New Thames River is a very short river and tidal estuary in the U.S. state of Connecticut

The New Thames flows south for just 24 km through eastern Connecticut from the junction of two rivers:

-- the Yantic and
-- the Shetucket

at Norwich, to New London and Groton, which flank its mouth at Long Island Sound

The Thames River watershed includes a number of smaller basins and the 80-mile-long Quinebaug River, which rises in southern Massachusetts and joins the Shetucket River about four miles northeast of Norwich.
The New Thames river has provided important harbours since the mid-17th century.

It was originally known as "The Pequot River", after the Pequot Indians who dominated the area.

Other early names for the river have included

The Frisius
The Great River
The Great River of Pequot
The Little Fresh
The Mohegan
The New London River and
The Pequod River.

After the town was officially named New London in 1658, the estuary river was renamed Thames to match.

The United States Coast Guard AcademyConnecticut College, a U.S. Navy submarine base, and the Electric Boat submarine shipyard are located on the river at New London.

The USS Nautilus (SSN-571), the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, was launched into the river on January 21, 1954.


Sleighing on the frozen river, winter of 1903-1904















Two historic forts, now Connecticut State Parks, overlook the mouth of the river at New London harbor:

-- Fort Griswold on the eastern Groton Heights, and 
-- Fort Trumbull on the New London side.

The Yale-Harvard Boat Race is held annually in New London.

The Boat race used to be held bi-annually on the New Thames, and bi-annually on the Charles. But not anymore.

New London's Sailfest is an annual event which includes OpSail, a gathering of large sailing vessels, including the U.S. Coast Guard training ship Eagle.

Places around Thames River[edit]


Gales Ferry


The Thames is crossed by three bridges:

Amtrak's Thames River Bridge, railroad crossing between New London and Groton.

The Gold Star Memorial Bridge, carrying I-95 and Route 1 together, between New London and Groton

Mohegan-Pequot Bridge, carrying Route 2A between Montville and Preston

Notes[edit]

  1. Jump up^ "How New London, Connecticut, Got Its Name"The New London Gazette. The Oldham Publishing Service. Retrieved 2015-06-17.
  2. Jump up^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed April 1, 2011
  3. Jump up^ Eastern Connecticut Conservation District.[1] accessed June 24, 2112
  4. Jump up^ "How New London, Connecticut, Got Its Name"The New London Gazette. The Oldham Publishing Service. Retrieved 2015-06-17.
  5. Jump up^ BBC News: "USS Nautilus: A record-breaking sub" Accessed 2014_01_21

See also[edit]


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