New London, Connecticut (pop. 27,367), is the home of the United States Coast Guard Academy. It is also the trading, banking, transportation, and distribution center for southeastern Connecticut. The city’s position at the mouth of the Thames River, near the eastern entrance of Long Island Sound, makes it an important seaport. New London, Willimantic, and Norwich form a metropolitan area with 268,555 people. During the mid-1800’s, New London’s whaling fleet was second in size only to that of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Today, copper, paper products, and steel coils are the principal cargoes shipped to New London’s Admiral Harold E. Shear State Pier.
Across the Thames River in Groton are Naval Submarine Base New London, the chief training center of the U.S. Navy’s submarine force; and a submarine design and manufacturing facility. Their presence has attracted a number of defense-related consulting and engineering firms to New London. The city is the home of Connecticut College and Mitchell College.
New London was settled in 1646 and incorporated in 1784. In 1781, during the Revolutionary War in America, the city was burned by a British raiding party led by the American traitor Benedict Arnold. New London has a mayor-council form of government.
