Baltimore clippers won fame as privateers and in trades where "deviltry and speed sailed together" - smuggling, running slaves and opium. Developed in Chesapeake Bay before the Revolution, these lean topsail schooners "clipped along" at 12 knots or more. Deep draft helped them sail closer to the wind than other vessels; raked masts lent a swift look but added no speed. The schooners were armed and raided British shipping in the War of 1812. The type faded by 1850, but its sharp lines lived on in the clipper ship. Men Ships and the Sea, Capt. Alan Villiers. National Geographic Society, 1973 .

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