Pride II Joins USNA and Tall Ship Lynx

[An article from Naval Air Station Patuxent River Tester]

A group of U.S Naval Academy Midshipmen will experience a unique learning opportunity when their “live classroom” sets sail April 30 and May 1 offshore from Naval Air Station Patuxent River and Navy Recreation Center (NRC) Solomons.

Part of an elective history course titled “War of 1812 in the Chesapeake: A Schoolhouse at Sea,” the pilot project places students on board the Lynx, a replica Baltimore Clipper tall ship, where they’ll undergo five one-hour modules each day covering various related topics.

4-30 Carolyn Corbin & Lynx 1“They’ll study the War of 1812 from a strategic standpoint,” explained Claude Berube, an instructor in the academy’s Department of History and the director of the U. S. Naval Academy Museum, which organized the program. “They’ll study operations and tactics, intelligence, celestial navigation, the economies on both sides during the war, and one of our English professors will even teach them about poetry and prose from the time period.”

Between modules, the midshipmen will be on deck learning how to handle the lines and getting a true sense of what their ancestors experienced more than 200 years ago while sailing the Chesapeake Bay.

“We’ll be accompanied by the Pride of Baltimore, and we’ll be attempting to show the midshipmen what it was like to look upon another tall ship sailing just 50 to 100 yards away, how sound carries over water when people are shouting commands on the ships, and what are safe distances in terms of navigation,” Berube said.

Studying the War of 1812 is important because the conflict is where the U.S. Navy began to grow into a formidable maritime force.

“So much took place on the Chesapeake Bay, it really was all around us,” Berube said. “We took on a major world power, the British, and in single ship actions we usually defeated them, demonstrating our superior naval architecture with the [Joshua] Humphrey frigates, such as the USS Constitution. And the heroes of the War of 1812 – Isaac Hull, William Bainbridge, David Porter –still have ships named after them today.”

As a result of that success,many Americans finally realized the importance of having a Navy, Berube noted.

“After the war, you started to see squadrons being sent overseas,” he said. “Navy funds were increased and ships were deployed worldwide to protect American interests.”

Throughout the course of the first day, the class of 10 students and their instructors will sail under the Thomas Johnson Bridge and continue past Point Patience, turning back somewhere near St. Leonard’s Creek.

They’ll then disembark at NRC Solomons where they will learn about the Marines during the War of 1812 from the U.S. Marine Corps Historical Company, spend the night and conclude the class the following day before heading back to Annapolis.

“The Solomons team is excited to host the naval academy’s live floating classroom,” said Carrie Rose, NRC installation program director. “We’ll provide both lodging and camping accommodations to the midshipmen and their professors, and it will certainly be a beautiful sight to see the tall ships on our local waters.”

Berube hopes the inaugural course, sponsored by the Class of 1950, is a success and that it can be repeated next year and in years to come.

“The midshipmen in the class represent about eight different majors,” he said. “This isn’t just a class for history majors, it’s a class for all midshipmen, as history should be; they have to understand their heritage. But, more importantly, we hope to show them that the same lessons from 200 years ago are lessons they should be applying as junior, midgrade and senior officers in command of ships or aviation squadrons, or in command of Marines.”

 

http://www.dcmilitary.com/tester/news/local/u-s-naval-academy-s-schoolhouse-at-sea-sets-sail/article_9a4d876e-5953-5d7b-bd4a-798a0395a9a5.html

 

NEW! GUIDED DECK TOURS

Pride of Baltimore is now offering a series of guided deck tours to their list of opportunities to come aboard! 

2013, Port Dalhausie
2013, Port Dalhausie

A 30-minute guided deck tour is the ultimate way to explore Pride’s deck, learn about past and present life aboard topsail schooner privateers, and interact with the vessel’s passionate and knowledgeable crew. Pride’s well-trained sailors will lead guests through various interpretive stations, including a hands-on demonstration in the Baltimore schooner design as well as an exciting video of Pride in action, bringing to life the traditional sailing experience for privateers in 1812.  Tours are open to adults, children, and groups of all types. Guests are asked to arrive 10-15 minutes prior to their tour for registration.  

Guided deck tours will be offered in various ports Pride will visit in 2014. Tour schedule and ticket information can be found on the Pride website:https://www.pride2.org/come-aboard/guided-deck-tours/

The Pride of Baltimore is a reconstruction of an early 19th century Baltimore Clipper. These sleek, fast, and maneuverable vessels became famous as privateers during the War of 1812. Their success in capturing British merchant ships inspired the Royal Navy’s attack on Baltimore in 1812.  When Francis Scott Key saw the American flag still flying after the all-night bombardment of Fort McHenry, he was inspired to pen the “Star-Spangled Banner.”

2014 is the first year in many that Pride will remain in local waters – traveling to as many Maryland ports as possible throughout the Star-Spangled Summer of 2014, reaching between 50,000 and 100,000 people in her port visits throughout the state. Since her commissioning in October of 1988, Pride has traveled over 250,000 nautical miles, visited 40 countries, and docked in over 200 ports of call. For more information on Pride’s 2014 sailing schedule, education initiatives, or membership program, please visit www.pride2.org.