Liberty Star
Sparred length: 67’
Length on deck: 52’
Draft: 8’
Mast height: 76’
Displacement : 52 GRT
Sail plan: gaff-rigged schooner
COI: 42 persons (including 3 crew)
Originally christened the Rachel B. Jackson, the Liberty Star was commissioned in 1972 in Harrington, Maine as a private sailing yacht. In 1982, a Maine shipwright named George Emery purchased the hull and completed the vessel. He named her in honor of his grandmother, who had lent him the money to purchase and complete the schooner. Built as a working replica of an 1890s coastal schooner, her sturdy mahogany planking, oak frames, traditional pine and fir decking, shining brass fittings, and exotic wood cabinetry recall the workmanship of days gone by.
She was originally put into service as a training vessel at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, CT. In the mid-1980s, the Seaport sold the vessel to a family who outfitted her and spent three years sailing around the world. Upon the completion of her circumnavigational voyage, she was sold to another family in Maine who took guests on day sails and showed her at tall ship events. In 2000 she represented the state of Maine in the Tall Ships 2000 race from Bermuda to Boston, and then on to Halifax, Nova Scotia. At one point, the ship was chartered by the National Geographic Society to do whale research off the coast of the Dominican Republic.
In the spring of 2012, the Liberty Fleet of Tall Ships found the Rachel B. Jackson in dire need of help in Belfast, Maine and decided to save the ship. On April 2, 2012, Liberty Fleet purchased the vessel and spent the next four months and 6,000-man hours rebuilding the ship. The Liberty Fleet rechristened the ship the Liberty Star.
Fame
Sparred length: 70′
Length on deck: 64’’
Draft: 10′
Mast height: 76’
Displacement : 24 GRT
Sail plan: Chebacco schooner
COI: 52 persons (including 3 crew)
Fame was built in Essex, MA in 2002-2003. Thanks to the generosity of the Trustees of Reservations, much of the spruce used for the masts and spars come from Hog Island right in the Essex River.
Fame is a recreation of the 1812 schooner of the same name, built by Captain Epes Davis of Annisquam. The original Fame could carry two small cannons and a crew of up to 30. She was designed for fishing, but when the war of 1812 broke out she was purchased by a group of 25 captains, shipowners, and merchants, refitted, and put into service as a privateer.
Captained by William Webb, Fame departed on her initial cruise as a privateer on July 1, 1812. Webb’s plan was to run down the Maine coast to New Brunswick. There, in small ports such as St. Andrews, British vessels loaded lumber and other raw materials for the insatiable Royal Navy.
Just eight days after launching on her first cruise, Fame returned to Salem having captured two British ships as prizes: the Concord and the Elbe. When sold at auction, the gross proceeds were nearly $7,000, a large sum in 1812!
During her two year stint as a privateer, Fame went on eleven more cruises and captured a total of 20 prizes (British ships). She eventually wrecked in the Bay of Fundy in 1814.
Modern Fame joined the Liberty Fleet in 2026.