AH-WR-1453

Lion of Baltimore

Privateer Schooner · United States · Lost 1814 · Chesapeake Bay

A Baltimore privateer schooner run into shallow Bodkin Creek and burned by a British warship in August 1814, its remains still sought beneath the creek's silt.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Lion of Baltimore was an armed schooner operating out of Baltimore during the War of 1812. In late August 1814, as British forces advanced on Washington, the Royal Navy frigate HMS Menelaus chased her into the shallow, narrow waters of Bodkin Creek near the mouth of the Patapsco River. Her twelve-man crew abandoned ship, stripping her sails before fleeing overland across a local farm, and British sailors burned the abandoned vessel. Maryland archaeologists have since searched Bodkin Creek for her remains using sonar, but no confirmed wreck has been recovered.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Not established
Yard: Baltimore, Maryland
Material: Wood
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Sail, schooner rig (Baltimore Clipper type)
Owners: Baltimore merchant/privateer interests

Loss

Date: August 24, 1814
Cause: Fire
Location: Bodkin Creek, near Bodkin Point at the mouth of the Patapsco River, Maryland
Water: Bodkin Creek / Chesapeake Bay
Voyage: Baltimore, Maryland
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: 12
Lives lost: 0
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Not confirmed located; believed to lie under silt in Bodkin Creek
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Bodkin Creek, near Bodkin Point, Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Region: Chesapeake Bay

General search area within Bodkin Creek identified by sonar survey, but no confirmed wreck position has been published

Evidence

Overall confidence: Partially documented (60/100)

The wreck's exact position within Bodkin Creek has not been confirmed by archaeological survey, and details of her construction, tonnage, and armament are not established in the sources reviewed.