Thank you for taking my inquiry; best thoughts heading your way…
First, I have looked through all 84 pages of the post index for the keyword, [sloop] which includes 2,084 posts and am exhilarated by the quality craftsmanship and detail.
Second, before giving specifications, I want to pose my question, so it is in your mind while you read further (if you read further).
Third, the nature of my inquiry is to maintain accuracy as I am writing a book that contains references to this particular sloop.
Q1: “For a ~48’ merchant sloop, ~15 feet beam, 60 tons burthen, what would be the typical dimensions of her auxiliary “boats”; the longboat and the barge?
Q2: “Where would those “boats” be stored for trans-Atlantic voyage?
I do see depictions of one boat being stored, hanging off the stern, yet do not find any depictions of both “boats” stored on a merchant sloop.
One depiction of a 53’ schooner, shows room on the deck to store a boat, yet, at 48’, and all of the equipment already taking up space on the deck, I fail to see where a second auxiliary boat could be stored; although, I did find one depiction of a boat stored off the side of a shorter sloop.
Specifications:
Vessel Type: Merchant sloop with raked mast, not perpendicular. Oak not cedar.
Vessel Specs: Single-mast sloop, ~48 feet long, ~15 feet beam, 60 tons burthen, designed for coastal and transatlantic trade.
(please, for this part, I ask for kindness, because I have come to understand that the particular sloop in question is categorized under [taboo] and have met with some resistance when researching it.)
The Sloop Liberty
The Sloop Liberty, owned by John Hancock and central to the 1768 Liberty Affair, was built in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1765.
It was constructed as a merchant sloop by local shipbuilders at the Boston shipyards, under Hancock's commission for his trading fleet.
The exact builder is not definitively recorded in primary sources, yet it was a standard colonial vessel (~48 feet long, 60 tons) typical of Boston's shipbuilding industry at the time, which produced many such sloops for rum and wine trade.
Key Details
Construction Year: 1765, shortly after Hancock acquired it for his shipping business.
Location: Boston shipyards, where Hancock's fleet was typically built or repaired. Boston was a major colonial shipbuilding hub, with yards along the Mystic River or Charlestown Navy Yard area.
Vessel Specs: Single-mast sloop, ~48 feet long, ~15 feet beam, 60 tons burthen, designed for coastal and transatlantic trade.
My current understanding is that the only existing replica of a merchant sloop is the Sloop Luna, a 45’ vessel, that is licensed to operate, even ship products, in the waters of the East coast.
The owners of the Sloop Luna, seem to indicate that their sloop is Bermuda class, yet it is not made of cedar and the mast is not perpendicular, having a raked mast, which most claim is the signature of not being a Bermuda class; noted that all sloops varied as they were all built by different builders without any single template.
Please feel free to correct any errors that you may find in the above details.
Any assistance with my research would be most welcomed.
Thank you, again…
Best thoughts heading your way…
PS. the attached image is of the Sloop Liberty from the propaganda painting by Paul Revere, which is why it is cartooned by added guns and flying the Sons of Liberty flag, instead of the standard British flag.
