HMS Liberty (1768)

John Hancock, original owner of Liberty

Plaque in Equality Park

The ship was originally owned by John Hancock. In 1768, British authorities were informed that Bostonians had locked a Bostons customs official in the Liberty's cabin while the cargo of Madeira wine was unloaded in an effort to evade the Townshend Acts.^[2] In response, the authorities 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^[1] and then used to patrol off Rhode Island 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 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 in Newport harbor as one of the first overt American acts of defiance against the Crown.^[3][4][5]

• Gaspée Affair
• HMS St. John

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