Baltimore’s Maritime Heritage

Pride of Baltimore II, the world’s only authentic sailing reproduction of an 1812-era Baltimore Clipper, is a living, working symbol of Baltimore’s maritime heritage and serves as a sailing goodwill ambassador and educational platform for American history and the Chesapeake Bay during the early 19th century. The original Baltimore Clipper ships were the lifeblood of the fledgling American Navy during the War of 1812 against Great Britain, and American privateers, many sailing from Baltimore’s Fell’s Point neighborhood and other Chesapeake Bay ports, captured or sank some 1,700 British merchant vessels, earning Baltimore and the surrounding area the British admiralty’s label of “a nest of pirates.” Pride II and her crew represent the spirit of those original privateers, whose impact on British shipping contributed to the attack on Baltimore and the bombardment of Fort McHenry. The first Baltimore Clipper built in 130 years, the original Pride sailed more than 150,000 nautical miles in nine years before a squall sank her off Puerto Rico in 1986, taking her captain and three crew members with her. Since her commissioning in 1988, Pride II has continued that work, calling on more than 200 ports in 37 countries in the Americas, Europe, and the Far East, covering some 200,000 nautical miles, and in Baltimore offering programs for school groups, public day sails, and guest crew berths between ports of call.

Baltimore, Maryland · United States