On Good Friday, March 27, 1891, the Norwegian barque "Dictator", whose home port was the coastal town of Moss, Norway, was lost in the Atlantic Ocean south of the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay off Virginia Beach, Virginia. The "Dictator" had a crew of 15 and the captain's family aboard. The sailing ship had been en route to West Hartlepool, England from Pensacola, Florida with a cargo of Georgia Pine lumber. After being caught and disabled in several storms along the East Coast of the United States, she was headed up the coast for port at Hampton Roads at Norfolk, Virginia to make repairs when she encountered gale force winds.