''Teazer'' was an American

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

schooner in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

that the British captured and destroyed in January 1813. She is best known as the predecessor of the ill-fated schooner . A small schooner based out of New York, ''Teazer'' was one of the first American privateers to put to sea in the war. On her first voyage she quickly captured six brigs and six schooners that she sent in to US ports as prizes. However, her career was short-lived. On 17 January 1813, captured her. British sailors then boarded ''Teazer'' and set her afire. The British allowed ''Teazer''s officers to go home on

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

: that is, they were freed upon their promising that they would not sail against Great Britain until an equivalent British prisoner had been exchanged. One of the privateer officers was Lieutenant Frederick Johnson. ''Teazer''s owner, Samuel Adams of New York, quickly built a larger replacement schooner named ''Young Teazer'', and Johnson joined ''Young Teazer'', breaking his parole. When the British cornered ''Young Teazer'' at

Mahone Bay Mahone Bay is a bay on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada along the eastern end of Lunenburg County. The bay has many islands, and is a popular sailing area. Since 2003 the Mahone Islands Conservation Association has been working to prot ...

on 27 June 1813, Johnson was serving as her

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

. Known for his violent temper, and vowing to avoid capture, he set off an explosion that killed almost the entire crew of ''Young Teazer''.

Prizes

Citations

References

* * {{1813 shipwrecks War of 1812 ships of the United States 1810s ships Teazer Maritime incidents in 1813