The Schooner Pride of Baltimore II

The Pride of Baltimore II has been on this blog at least once before (if not twice).  I know that I caught her at the last time I was at the Tall Ship Festival in Bay City.  Based on past posts, I also caught her for the War of 1812 reenactment by Put-In-Bay.

 The Pride of Baltimore II was built in 1988 as a replacement for the Pride of Baltimore which was lost in a squall near Puerto Rico in 1986.  She is a topsail schooner which means she square sails on the top of her main mast and triangular sails on her other masts.  If I remember correctly, this makes her pretty useful in most sail conditions.

 She is an example of a Baltimore Clipper which was designed for its speed and maneuverability.  This made them well suited for privateering.  A privateer was basically a legal pirate.  The pirate was authorized by one government to prey on enemy warships.

 Privateers accounted for the loss of many British cargo ships during the War of 1812.  Much of the US Fleet was bottled up by the British Navy and so it was the privateers that carried the war to the British.

 If I remember correctly, they were quite successful.

She continues on her way to Bay City.