''Liberty'' was a

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

owned by

John Hancock John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the ...

, an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

merchant, whose seizure was the subject of the Liberty Affair. Seized by customs officials in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in 1768, it was commissioned into the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

as HMS ''Liberty'', and she was burned the next year by American colonists in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

in one of the first acts of open defiance against the

British crown The Crown is the state (polity), state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories, overseas territories, Provinces and territorie ...

by American colonists.

History

The ship was originally owned by John Hancock. In 1768, British officials alleged that Bostonians locked a

customs Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

official in the ''Liberty''s cabin while the cargo of

Madeira wine Madeira is a fortified wine made on the Portuguese Madeira Islands, off the coast of Africa. Madeira is produced in a variety of styles ranging from dry wines which can be consumed on their own, as an apéritif, to sweet wines usually consumed ...

was unloaded in an effort to evade the

Townshend Acts The Townshend Acts () or Townshend Duties, were a series of British acts of Parliament passed during 1767 and 1768 introducing a series of taxes and regulations to fund administration of the British colonies in America. They are named after the ...

. In retaliation, the British government confiscated ''Liberty'', and she was towed away by HMS ''Halifax''. Charges against Hancock were eventually dropped, but ''Liberty'' remained confiscated. The ship was refitted in Rhode Island to serve as a Royal Navy ship named HMS ''Liberty'' and then used to patrol off

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

for customs violations. On 19 July 1769, the crew of ''Liberty'' under Captain William Reid accosted Joseph Packwood, a New London captain, and seized and towed two

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

ships into Newport. In retribution, Packwood and a mob of Rhode Islanders confronted Reid, then boarded, scuttled, and later burned the ship on the north end of Goat Island (although a small monument to the event, located in Equality Park on Broadway, states the sloop was dragged to the site of the park and burned there) in Newport harbor as one of the first overt American acts of defiance against the British government.Sherman, An Accounting of His Majesty's Armed Sloop ''Liberty''

References

Shipwrecks of the Rhode Island coast Newport County, Rhode Island Maritime incidents in 1769 Individual sailing vessels Scuttled vessels {{UK-mil-ship-stub

History

See also

References