Amid the bombardment that ensued, a guy named Key jotted down some lines on an envelope that later became our national anthem. Eventually a British fleet sailed up the Chesapeake Bay for retaliation and, when they arrived in Baltimore, found the harbor had been blocked by a false reef of wreckage. Navy, frustrated the British in their blockade of the East Coast. Privately owned ships, commissioned by the U.S. The captain reminded us that in 1812 Fells Point, the neighborhood stretching back from the dock, was rife with boat builders. Later in the summer, they’ll be making a tour of the Great Lakes.Ī couple of years ago, I had the pleasure and privilege of boarding the Pride of Baltimore II, built to honor the city’s history of shipbuilding and privateering, to see what she was made of. “You’ve just stepped into the workings of a machine powered by wind and muscle,” Captain Jim Trost announced as we pulled away from the dock with six crew members hauling hard on a starboard line to spread the topsail.įor me, visiting those ships in Baltimore - passing Fort McHenry amid tankers, tugs, and weekend boaters - provided an eye-popping glimpse into life on the sea, then and now. If you find yourself in New York City this Memorial Day weekend, you can catch sight of the ships during Fleet Week. You’ll be able to experience the extravaganza in ports from New Orleans to Boston - including stops in Norfolk, VA and Baltimore, MD, and New London, CT. bicentennial in 1976, to arrange similar spectacles in U.S. The Navy has collaborated with Operation Sail, the group that rounded up dozens of ghostly tall ships for the U.S. One way to relive that chapter in history is to head for the water. This spring brings the War of 1812 bicentennial to life in a most audacious way: with the kind of sailing ships that made the war a test of nerves for a young, unproven navy and civilian privateers. Taylor, co-author of The War of 1812 and the Rise of the U.S.
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