[taboo] The Sloop Liberty Inquiry

[Redondo113]

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.  

 

[Keith Black]

 Redondo, welcome to MSW. Wishing you well with your research. Glad to have you aboard. 

[JacquesCousteau]

I'm not sure what you mean by "taboo," but you might get some ideas by looking at naval cutters, which are around the same size. Checking very briefly, at least one of the models in this thread has a small boat stored on deck:

I would guess that merchant ships' boats were less standardized than naval ones, but some of the smaller naval boats perhaps would have been similar enough. If you search for merchant ships' boats, or look at models of small merchant vessels, that might give you some ideas as well.

 

You also might get more responses if you edit the title of your post to better reflect your question:  "Merchant ship's boats" or something like that.

[Kenchington]

Hi @Redondo113. Welcome to Model Ship World!

 

I rather doubt that any definite answers to your questions exist. Even the boats of major warships, of the era that concerns you, are poorly documented. The boats of small merchantmen may be almost unknown -- unless you are willing to undertake a study of contemporary imagery for yourself. However, I will try a first stab at answers to your questions:

 

8 hours ago, Redondo113 said:

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?

A 48ft sloop would not carry either a longboat or a barge -- not as I understand those terms anyway. My best guess would be that she only carried one boat, as space would be very limited and there would not be any pressing need for more than one. As to size, I would guess "big enough but no bigger than necessary". Big enough would mean sufficient to carry two men at the oars and maybe a third steering, while operating in harbours where the sloop might anchor (including operating in a chop when the wind breezed up). I would doubt a need for anything more. Based on the capabilities of the lapstrake dinghies of my childhood, I'd guess that a 10ft boat would be too small, 12ft about right and 15ft unnecessarily large. Beam would be about 6 or maybe 7 feet, dictated by the geometry of the oars more than capacity or seaworthiness.

 

8 hours ago, Redondo113 said:

Q2: “Where would those “boats” be stored for trans-Atlantic voyage?

On deck, on the centreline, abaft the mast. That might be on top of a deck cargo, on chocks spanning the main hatch or however else the boat could be fitted in. I'd not be surprised if the boat was inverted for an ocean crossing.

 

9 hours ago, Redondo113 said:

depictions of one boat being stored, hanging off the stern

That's not impossible for a sloop of the era you are interested in but I think (not certain) that the notion of a yawlboat carried under stern davits was more a post-1800 development.

 

 

And a final thought:

 

When I first learnt to sail, inflatable dinghies were coming in but most yachts still had lapstrake tenders. In that context, the advice in one of my textbooks was something to the effect of: "It is worth any sacrifice to carry your dinghy on board". That advice notwithstanding, most people towed theirs astern while sailing along the coast, with the unsurprising result that boats were not infrequently lost. I suspect that much the same was true of similarly-sized sailing vessels two centuries earlier. So I'll guess that your sloop towed her boat until it was time to set out for an ocean voyage (down to the Caribbean, as much as across to Europe). Then, the final preparation before setting sail and weighing anchor would be to get the boat aboard and lashed down -- the last step because, once the boat was aboard, there was no chance for anyone to go ashore for any last-minute chores.

 

Hope this helps,

 

 

Trevor