On the 29th he anchored three miles south of Rhode Island, and there awaited a suitable moment for forcing the entrance.
Narragansett Bay contains several islands.

The two largest, near the sea, are Rhode Island and Conanicut, the latter being the more westerly.

Their general direction, as that of the Bay itself, is north and south; and by them the entrance is divided into three passages.
Of these, the eastern, called Seakonnet, is not navigable above Rhode Island.

The central, which is the main channel, is joined by the western above Conanicut, and thus the two lead to the upper Bay.

The town of Newport is on the west side of Rhode Island, four miles from the main entrance.
On the 30th of July, the day after the French fleet had arrived, two of its ships of the line, under command of the afterwards celebrated Suffren, went up the western channel, anchoring within it near the south end of Conanicut.