The Historic ‘Pride of Baltimore II’ Celebrates 50 Years

On a hot, sunny morning in late June, the Pride of Baltimore II docked at Fells Point’s Broadway Pier. There would be no voyages out on the Chesapeake Bay today—amidst dozens of other historic vessels, the tall ship was now back in her home port for Sail250, part of the United States’ 250th birthday celebrations.

At the edge of this waterfront neighborhood, her 11 sails were furled, and her many ropes were coiled into circles along the wooden deck. Visitors walked aboard and were greeted by Senior Captain Jan Miles. A tall man with a thatch of foam-white hair, the 75-year-old sailor joined the first Pride of Baltimore as captain in the spring of 1981. He’s well-versed on sailing history and full of great stories about this lineage of ships—like the fact that the first Pride was almost called The Blaze Starr, after the city’s beloved burlesque star, proposed by the original builder, Melbourne Smith, “who was a
bit of a raconteur.”

Instead, it became the Pride of Baltimore as a more direct way of communicating her mission. Because in Baltimore’s beginnings, says Miles, this harbor was “sail, pure sail.” And while the shipyards that once lined the local shorelines are now mostly gone, replaced by condominiums, hotels, and restaurants, that maritime history is still alive and well in Baltimore, thanks in part to the Pride, both I and II.

This year marks not only the 250th year of the United States, but 40 years since the original Pride went down in a sudden microburst squall near Puerto Rico in May 1986. The first Baltimore Clipper schooner to be built in 150 years, it had been constructed a decade prior, as part of the then Bicentennial of the nation’s founding. But sailing back to her home port that spring, she lost her captain—Armin Elsaesser—and three of her crew—sailors Vincent Lazzaro, Barry Duckworth, and Nina Schack—in the storm. After the ship went down, the eight surviving crew members spent more than four days in a life raft before they were rescued.

Despite that legacy—indeed, because of it—Pride II, which was built from scratch in the wake of that disaster, has spent this summer honoring its past and, on what would be the original ship’s 50th birthday, celebrating its future, along with the country’s Semiquincentennial. The vessel was front and center during Sail250, hosting dock tours, releasing a special batch of rum with Old Line Spirits, and following the rest of the event’s international fleet up the East Coast, including past the Statue of Liberty to New York City on the Fourth of July.

It’s consistent with Pride II’s ongoing mandate: to memorialize its lost crew, to educate, and to continue to sail as an ambassador for the maritime history of both Baltimore and Maryland. During her two-year construction, she was rebuilt bigger and stronger than her predecessor, with a greater cruising range and the ability to carry passengers.

Then in 1988, she finally set sail again, out of Baltimore, bound for Bermuda. In the years since, she’s visited more than 200 ports in 40 countries, covering more than 275,000 nautical miles, but always coming home to Baltimore. When back in this harbor, there are deck tours, day sails, and guest crew programs.

For the last two years, she’s also been hosting an annual festival called Sailabration, held this year on September 26 at Broadway Pier, featuring nautically themed music, food and drink, and even real-deal sailor’s tattoos.

“You don’t have stories unless you leave home, and you [can’t tell] stories unless you bring them home,” says Miles, as another group of visitors boards the ship to hear some for themselves. “That’s been the business of the last 50 years. What’s next? Another 50 years.”