June 9, 1772 colonist in Rhode Island burn revenue cutter HMS Gaspee in Narragansett Bay. This would be one of the first acts of open defiance leading up to the American Revolution. In 1764 Rhode Island’s Newport Artillery Company opened fire with their cannon on HMS St. John and four years later Rhode Island colonist burned HMS Liberty in Newport Harbor
https://www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/gaspee.html
