New magnet fisher pulls World War II grenade from Rhode Island park

Gerard Perreault had been magnet fishing for only a couple of weeks when his line came back with the kind of catch nobody wants from a public pier: a heavily encrusted World War II-era hand grenade from Rocky Point State Park in Warwick, Rhode Island. He pulled it up on a Sunday afternoon near the fishing pier, saw enough to know it could be dangerous, and contacted Warwick police.

That call set off a fast response at a place that had been busy with summer visitors. Warwick police brought in the Rhode Island Bomb Squad and cleared the Rocky Point State Park fishing pier of people while technicians took over the recovery. X-rays later showed the object was inert. Deputy Thomas Groff, commander of the Explosive Operations Division for the Office of the State Fire Marshal, identified it as an Mk 2 hand grenade, the classic “pineapple” style shell that the U.S. military introduced in 1918 and kept as standard issue through World War II.

If a pull from the water looks like ordnance, stop handling it, clear the area, and call police so the bomb squad can take over. Perreault said he was surprised, felt bad about the disruption, and planned to keep magnet fishing, just not from that pier again.

Rocky Point has been a public attraction since 1850, Rocky Point amusement park closed in 1995, and Rocky Point State Park reopened in October 2014 on about 120 acres within roughly 10 miles of downtown Providence. The fishing pier now sits inside a larger recreation area used for walking, bird-watching, rock climbing, youth fishing camps, clamming workshops, picnics, Food Truck Nights, and Movie Nights.

The Rhode Island Bomb Squad, formally the Explosives Operations Division, responds to explosive-material incidents statewide. In 2022, fishermen hauled up an unexploded World War II-era depth charge off Block Island, and the U.S. Navy later safely detonated it.