| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Julia Hamilton |
| Namesake | Possibly for daughter of William Thomas Hamilton, Maryland's governor 1880 to 1884.[note 1] |
| Owner | Maryland Conservation Commission |
| Operator |
|
| Fate | Sold 1918 by Maryland Conservation Commission for $350.00 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Patrol vessel |
| Length | 55 ft (17 m) |
| Beam | 16 ft (4.9 m) |
| Draft | 4 ft 6 in (1.37 m) |
| Complement | 3 |
| Armament | Six pounder gun (Oyster Police Force) |
Julia Hamilton was a Maryland State Oyster Police Force (“Oyster Navy”) schooner, part of the force established to enforce state conservation laws designed to protect Maryland's oyster resources when out of state, often New England, dredgers began destroying reefs in the Chesapeake Bay. Later local opposition to licenses turned to open "warfare" in the "oyster wars" when a fleet of state vessels fought "oyster pirates" in armed conflicts.
That force became the Maryland State Fishery Force under the Conservation Commission of Maryland with which the schooner served when the entire force, boats and men, became a part of the U.S. Naval Reserve in an agreement between the state and the Navy in 1917. Julia Hamilton continued to patrol the usual waters enforcing conservation law as well as federal law under the agreement. After the war the state modernized its force selling the older sailing vessels to be replaced by purpose built motor boats. The force was one of the elements forming today's Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police.
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