The Gaspee Affair is a significant event in the American Revolution.
HMS Gaspee, a British revenue schooner that has been vigorously enforcing unpopular trade regulations, runs aground in shallow water, on June 9, 1772 near what is now known as Gaspee Point in the city of Warwick, Rhode Island while chasing the packet boat Hannah.
In an act of defiance that gains considerable notoriety, the ship is attacked, boarded, stripped of valuables and torched by American patriots led by Abraham Whipple.