The Patch
The patch above is worn on the uniforms of the police officers. The patch shows the Famous Schooners The Hesper and Luther Little. The ships date back to the early 1900's. Below is a little history about the schooners.
THE LUTHER LITTLE
The LUTHER LITTLE, a handsome four-masted schooner, ended her sailing days when still in her prime owing to lack of cargoes and shortages of crews. Built in 1917 at Somerset, Massachusetts, she was more than 204 feet long. During the first World War she entered trade. For a time she was not only in the coasting trade, but traveled deep water as well. In July 1920, she went aground at the mouth of Fort Liberte Harbor, Haiti. At the time she was deeply loaded with log wood for Chester, Pennsylvania and remained hard and fast for two weeks, but eventually was pulled clear.
The LITTLE continued to sail until the middle of the 1920's. In June 1932 she was auctioned to satisfy claims and was laid up at Wiscasset. Although she was still in good condition, there was no call for her nor her type.
THE HESPERThe four-masted schooner HESPER took to the water on August 23, 1918 after several problems had postponed launching from July 1 of that year. HESPER made several offshore runs, at least twice crossing to Lisbon with coal before running down to Venezuela to load guano back to the States. Later she was kept busy in the coastal coal and lumber trades. She left Norfolk on February 27, 1920 with 2,000 tons of coal for Boston, making Vineyard Haven on March 4th. On the last lap she met bad weather which jumped from southeast storms to northwest gales, driving her far off course. She lost her spanker and other canvas before she crawled into Portland on March 9th.
By 1928 the HESPER was laid up at Rockport, Maine. On September 1, 1932 the HESPER arrived at Wiscasset, Maine in tow. Her masts stood until about 1940 when they were cut down.
(Information about the Hesper and Luther Little was obtained from the Wiscasset Invites You, sixth edition)
