Skipjacks the Official State Boat of Maryland

The Sultana

The original Sultana was a topsail schooner built in 1768, during the time the American colonies were just beginning to organize fortheir independence from England. Topsail schooners were boats that had two main masts with triangle sails. They were called topsail schooners because they also had one or two square sails at the very top of their masts. These schooners were faster and easier tomaneuver than other ships in England’s navy.

The ship was used to patrol the Bay for people trying to bring lead, paper, glass, and tea into the colonies illegally. England needed agreat deal of money to payits debts from the Seven Years War. The king decided to have the colonists pay their fair share, and put theTownsend Duties, or “Tea Taxes” in effect. The colonists were not happy. They started smuggling those goods into the country,refusing to pay the taxes. Sultana was brought into service, along with many other ships, to take control of any lead, glass, paper, or teafor which the taxes had not been paid.

After four years, Sultana had only taken control of one ship’s cargo. Many thought the ship was too small to be effective. Tensionsbetween England and the colonies were growing. She was ordered back to England. The Royal Navy sold the Sultana. No one knowswhat happened to the original boat after that.

In 1996, a Maryland shipbuilder had a dream. He wanted to build a reconstruction of this ship. He knew that there wereincredibly detailed records of the first time the ship was built and what the ship did for its four years around the Chesapeake. In fact, theship had been a favorite of model builders for many years. The records allowed them to build exact models of the ship.

The shipbuilder, John Swain, began his work in October 1998 in Chestertown, Maryland. That month, the keel, or main structure, of theship was started. By the time the reconstructedSultana was launched in March, 2001, over 3000 school children and many othervolunteers had contributed well over 150,000 hours of their time to bringing this ship to life.

Today, the ship spends nine months a year sailing the Bay and helping students come to know the past, present, and future of theChesapeake Bay ecosystem.

To learn more about the Sultana, visit her official website.

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Bayville