PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – Two tall ships, among them a replica of an Irish potato famine ship making its maiden voyage to North America, will visit New Hampshire this year.

The Jeanie Johnston is to arrive on Aug. 7 and stay four days. The War Sloop Providence will arrive on July 17 and depart on July 24. Both ships will be open for tours.

“It will give us a good summer of tall ships,” said Donald Coker of the Piscataqua Maritime Commission.

“That’s a major coup for the PMC to get the Jeanie here. The ship has a history behind it,” he said.

The ship is a replica of the original Jeanie Johnston, used in the mid-19th century to bring timber and corn from Quebec to Tralee, Ireland. On its return journeys the ship carried about 200 refugees of the famine, making 16 Atlantic crossings.

An estimated 1 million people died and 2 million emigrated to North America during the famine.

The historical 123-foot replica has three masts and a facade of oak and pine, but is modern throughout, with steel frame, diesel engines, desalinization, sewage treatment and air conditioning.

The War Sloop Providence will be making its second visit in two years to Portsmouth.

The sloop is a replica of one of the first ships in the United States Navy. Commanded by John Paul Jones, it sank or captured more than 40 British ships – the most successful American vessel of the Revolutionary War.

The original 110-foot ship with 24 guns was scuttled in 1779 in the Penobscot River to prevent its capture by the British. It remains at the bottom of the river in Bucksport, Maine.

The replica was built in 1976 and is operated by an education foundation based in Providence, R.I.