Based in Newport Beach, CA, Lynx has spent the past two years sailing the Great Lakes and the Atlantic coast. Her appearance at Cape Charles June 8-12 returns her “home” to the Chesapeake Bay for the historic celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the War of 1812 and the writing of the Star Spangled Banner.
Lynx is fitted with period ordnance and flies pennants and flags from the 1812 era, and her captain and crew are re-enactors wearing authentic uniforms from that time. She is armed with a functioning main battery of four six-pounder carronade and four swivel guns. In addition, a complementary stand of historic small arms, for demonstration and instructional purposes, is aboard, including muskets, pistols, cutlasses, boarding pikes and axes.
At the outbreak of the War of 1812, the American Navy consisted of only 17 ships – eight frigates, two brigs, and seven assorted smaller vessels including a few schooners which saw service in the Barbary Wars. When a nation went to war, owners of private vessels were granted special permissions, called “letters of marque,” to prey upon the enemy’s shipping; thus, “privateers.” Among the Baltimore privateers was the sharp-built tops’l schooner, LYNX.
While rarely engaging enemy warships, their impact was felt by English merchants who insisted on warship escorts for their vessels. To perform this duty, warships were drawn away from engaging the scant American Navy and blockading our coast, and thus did the privateers, motivated by profit, assist in our national defense. Privateers were so effective at running the British blockade and harassing the British merchant fleet that the ship yards, which built them, became primary targets for British revenge. The most notorious of these were at Fell’s Point.
But in order to get to them, the British force had to sail beyond Ft. McHenry, which protected the entrance to Baltimore’s inner harbor and Fell’s Point. For 25 hours on 13 and 14 September 1814, the British bombarded the fort with over 1,500 iron shot and mortar shells, but were unable to achieve their goal. It was here, on the morning of 14 September that Francis Scott Key, a lawyer from Georgetown, DC, was moved to write the “Star Spangled Banner” which, 131 years later, became our National Anthem.
Although captured early in the war, the original LYNX with her rakish profile and superior sailing abilities, served as an inspiration to those ships that would follow. Two-hour day sails are offered aboard Privateer Lynx. To purchase tickets for this cruise, please go to http://www.privateerlynx.com/calendar.html
Where’s the Lynx now?
To track her position, go to:
http://www.privateerlynx.com/news/?page_id=1138
Captain John’s Log
Schooner Lynx
