looked really good and, when applied and it worked, was generally considered better. To this day all Chesapeake Bay traditional craft such as Skipjacks, Bugeyes and Log Canoes have similarly steeply raked rigs. Deck armament was a significant pro-
portion of topside weight so these fast schooners were relatively lightly armed with 12lb cannons or less. The largest of the schooners carried no more than 16 guns but with speed and manoeuvrability these weapons were made doubly effective. Interestingly, privateers captured by the
British had more guns added on deck, largely ruining their performance. Indeed Royal Navy-converted captures were con- sidered very dangerous and heavier spars and rigging along with reduced sail further hampered their performance. Nevertheless it was vital that the Ameri-
cans not lock horns with the far more heavily armed, larger British ships, so they carried long-range guns and, later, some- times a single pivot gun amidships, usually of larger calibre, which was deadly effective. One of the most astounding features of
these schooners was their large crews. It was not unusual for these less than 100ft long privateers to set out carrying over 100 crew. Once aboard, with no berthing the crews would tuck themselves in the hold or wherever they found a corner. Over time the crew would thin out as
enemy vessels were captured and manned to sail to east coast ports to be sold on by agents. As the capture and subsequent sale of their prey resulted in direct profit to the owner’s officers and crew, boarding rather than trading broadsides was preferable to keep damage to a minimum. A large priva- teersman crew would easily overwhelm a typical cargo vessel’s far smaller crew. And, unlike their British opponents, the American privateersmen were well moti- vated as shareholders and not the virtual serfs so often found on Royal Navy ships.
52 SEAHORSE
At the beginning of the War of 1812 the
US Government banned all official export or import to Britain by commercial vessels, but in an effort to promote and incentivise an unofficial private navy had sagely elimi- nated all federal duty collections on cap- tures. Instead, in an effort to formalise these floating ‘private militias’, the govern- ment sold ‘Letters of Reprisal and Mar- que’, which was a document required by those wishing to engage in privateering. Without such Federal authorisation the skippers and their crews might have been considered more akin to pirates. But the masters and owners of the pri-
vateers were not engaged in piracy in any sense but were engaging in a new and unique kind of warfare that, although it could never bring about defeat of a far more powerful enemy, could cause consid- erable internal strife through commercial losses and even rising insurance rates and availability of vessels. In fact, this exactly described the eventual outcome and pressure on the UK parliament by British merchants was a significant factor in Great Britain ending the war. The shipmasters of privateer vessels
carried themselves well and honourably, with relatively disciplined crews who were partners, as it were, in a potentially prof- itable venture. There was no profit to be made in slugging it out with superior force and there was no dishonour in running away from a determined or superior foe. The sailing masters and crew put aboard
captured vessels certainly earned their rewards by not only delivering their often wounded prizes but in keeping their prison- ers under wraps. Many privateer crew were themselves captured by British cruisers, then either themselves being pressed or sent away to face incarceration in the infamous British prisons of Plymouth and Dartmoor. Sale of captured vessels and goods became pure profit for both shipowners
and mariners, and so Baltimore, being well situated 150 miles up the Chesapeake and therefore closer to inland products, soon turned to shipbuilding and outfitting pri- vateers. So numerous were these schooners that they became known as Baltimore Clippers (not to be confused with the later Clipper Ships – of a whole different hull form and purpose). Hundreds of these vessels (at least 120
from Baltimore alone) from 100 to 300 tons, were constructed there and in other Maryland and Virginia Bay-side towns for the dangerous but potentially lucrative business of privateering. Obtaining crews was easy and in fact ships often had the pick of experienced sailors put out of work by Federal trade restrictions. Baltimore itself was a southern city
supportive of this conflict with Britain which seemed so disproportionate, unlike more northern populations that were more likely to be against this war. This enthusi- asm made the Chesapeake a target for a substantial blockade and frequent raiding by the British, specifically aimed at destroying these shipbuilding nests. And the British had spectacular successes, working their way up the Chesapeake and the Potomac River to the nation’s capital and famously burning the White House. But they were turned back at Baltimore, the battle that produced the Star Spangled Banner, the US national anthem. In the face of such powerful opponents
the Baltimore Clipper captains needed all their speed and cunning to run the block- ade at the narrow mouth of the Chesa- peake. They largely succeeded through making poor weather their ally and utilis- ing their shallower draft to run the side- lines of the bay. Winter gales became a popular if uncomfortable time to run the gauntlet of the British blockaders. The business end of privateering was as daring and bold as the vessels. Shipowners
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