2001 Lynx, "America's Privateer"
You may be aware of the 2001 schooner Lynx which serves as a
sailing classroom out of her home port in Newport Beach, California. She is a replica of the 1812 privateer Lynx
which operated along the east coast and Chesapeake Bay. This is an article about three ships which
have sailed under the name Lynx and how they relate to each other.
The schooner Lynx was in Baltimore and commissioned on July
14, 1812. She was 97 feet long, had a
beam of 24 feet, and carried six 12-pound guns.
Under a letter of marque she was an armed merchantman chartered to capture
enemy merchantmen as prize during her normal course of duty. Her crew did not depend prizes but were paid
a regular wage. After one successful
voyage to France she was moored in Virginia’s Rappahannock River preparing to
return to France.
Britain had long been engaged in the Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815)
with France. Consequently, they blocked
other nations from trading with the French.
The United States had been allied with France since the Revolutionary
war in 1776 and was dependent on this relationship for much of its income. The blockade was causing a significant
decline in the financial arena. While
the British had agreed to the terms of the end of the American Revolution, they
hadn’t fully accepted the idea of an independent United States. They felt it was their right to conscript US
sailors from captured merchant ships.
This situation came to a head on June 18, 1812 when the
United States declared war on Britain.
The War of 1812 ended with the Treaty of Ghent on February 17,
1815. There was no clear winner in this
war. The Treaty of Ghent, however,
established the framework for US-British relations that lasts to this day. It also documented the method for US and Canada to sustain the
world’s longest unfortified border.
Early in the War of 1812 a squadron of seven British ships
blockaded four schooners including the Lynx in the Rappahannock River. The squadron sent a group of boats with 105
men up the river and were successful in capturing three of the schooners and
terminally damaging the fourth. The Lynx
was taken into British service and renamed HMS Mosquidobit. The British paid about 2,000
pounds for the Lynx.
After her capture the Mosquidobit joined the blockade
Chesapeake Bay. She was then stationed
in Nova Scotica. She sailed to England
in 1816 and then was part of the anti-smuggling duties in Ireland. In 1819 she was rewarded for taking the
second largest number of smugglers off the Irish coast. In 1820 she was decommissioned and sold into
private service. There is no further
record of the ship.
The Lynx was recognized as having a superior design. The US Navy modified this design slightly and
in 1814 built a new schooner also bearing the name Lynx. She sailed with a squadron to the
Mediteranean to help quell a treaty violation.
She was then assigned to Pirate patrol off the coast of Mexico. She was lost with all hands in 1820 to a
hurricane off the coast of Jamaica.
Today’s Lynx, though larger, is very similar to the 1812
Lynx. She offers programs in history,
earth and physical science, seamanship, and leadership. She sails from California to Hawaii every
summer with students acting as crew and learning about life on a sailing
vessel. She also offers occasional three
hour long “battle sails” where blanks instead of cannon balls are fired at “enemy”
vessels such as the Lady Washington or the Californian.
Ship Models Online offers a beautiful painted model of the
Lynx along with an extensive catalog of other Quality Tall Ship Models.
References:
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