Young Teazer

Young Teazer was a United States privateer schooner that a member of her crew blew up at Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia during the War of 1812 after a series of British warships chased her and after HMS Hogue trapped her. The schooner became famous for the deadly explosion that killed most of her crew and for the folklore about the ghostly "Teazer Light."

Historical context

Many American privateers attacked British shipping off the coast of Nova Scotia during the War of 1812. This forced the British to deploy warships to patrol North American waters to forestall attacks and capture the American raiders.

The British naval strategy was twofold. First, the Royal Navy tried to protect British merchant shipping to and from Halifax, Canada and the West Indies. Second, the navy enforced a blockade of major American ports aimed at restricting American trade.

Both sides used privateers in the War of 1812 but the United States made greater use of them due to numerical inferiority of the United States Navy and the larger scale of British merchant trade relative to the United States's merchant trade. The Americans aimed to cause disruption through hit-and-run tactics, such as the capture of prizes and engaging Royal Navy vessels only under favorable circumstances. The American privateers were successful for the first part of the war.