NEW LONDON, a city of south-eastern Connecticut, U.S.A., on the west bank of the Thames river, 3 m. from Long Island sound ; a port of entry and one of the county seats of New London county. It is on Federal highway 1, and is served by the Central Vermont and the New York, New Haven and Hartford railways, and steamship lines. Pop. (1920) 25,688 (23% foreign born white) ; (1930 Federal census) 29,640. The city, facing south east, lies on sloping ground which commands wide views of the sound and the surrounding country from its higher points. The fine natural harbour is a U.S. submarine base, and on Fisher's island (8 m. S.E.) is Ft. H. G. Wright, headquarters of the Long Island Sound harbour defences. At the entrance to the harbour, on either side of the river, stand Ft. Trumbull and Ft. Griswold (no longer in use). New London is a summer resort and a sta tion of several yacht clubs. The annual boat races between Har vard and Yale are rowed on the river near the city. Among the points of special interest are the town mill (1650) ; the Hemp stead mansion (1678) ; the old cemetery north-east of the city, laid out in 1653; a school-house in which Nathan Hale taught; and a court-house built in 1785. At Ft. Trumbull is the U.S.
Coast Guard academy and section base. The Connecticut College for Women (chartered 1911) occupies 35o ac. within the city limits. Two endowed high schools and an endowed industrial school are included in the public school system. The traffic of the harbour (which has a I,000 ft. pier built by the State in 1917) amounted to 631,044 tons in 1925, valued at $280,697,973, and consisted largely of general merchandise. Foreign trade was represented by imports of lumber ($160,000) and exports of automobiles ($1,254,600). The city's varied manufactures were valued in 1927 at $12,853.530. The assessed valuation for 1926 was $42,613,315. New London was founded in 1646 by John Winthrop the younger. In 1658 the present name was substituted for the Indian "Nameaug" and the river Monhegin became the Thames. The city was incorporated in 1784. In the 18th century New London had a large trade with the West Indies, Gibraltar and the Barbary States, but this declined after the War of 1812. It was also an important whaling and sealing port. During the Revolution it was a rendezvous for privateers. The first naval expedition was organized in its harbour in 1776.