AH-WR-1022

Dash

Privateer Schooner · United States · Lost 1815 · Cape Ann & the Gulf of Maine

A successful War of 1812 privateer schooner from the Harpswell-Freeport area that vanished without a trace on a cruise in early 1815, entering local legend as a ghost ship.

Become Captain of Record

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Dash was a fast privateer schooner built in the Harpswell-Freeport region of Maine in 1813 and used against British shipping during the War of 1812, reportedly completing fifteen successful cruises. In early 1815 she put to sea and never returned, disappearing with her entire crew. Her unexplained loss gave rise to enduring ghost-ship folklore along the Casco Bay coastline that persists to this day.

Vessel

Built: 1813
Builder: Not established
Yard: Harpswell-Freeport region, Maine
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: January 1, 1815
Cause: Not established
Location: Atlantic Ocean off the Maine coast, near Casco Bay
Water: Gulf of Maine
Voyage: Portland, Maine
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: The entire crew was lost when the vessel failed to return; the exact number aboard is not established in the sources reviewed.
Master: Not established