A privateer was a private warship authorized by a country's government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping. For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. A letter of marque is an official warrant or commission from a Government authorizing the designated agent to search seize or destroy specified assets Privateering is often described as a form of "legal" piracy. Piracy is Robbery committed at sea or sometimes on shore without a commission from a sovereign Nation (as distinct from Privateering Strictly, a privateer was only entitled to attack and rob enemy vessels during wartime. However, states often encouraged attacks on opposing powers while at peace, or on neutral vessels during time of war, blurring the line between privateering and piracy. Piracy is Robbery committed at sea or sometimes on shore without a commission from a sovereign Nation (as distinct from Privateering

Privateers were an accepted part of naval warfare from the 16th to the 19th centuries, authorised by all significant naval powers. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar The costs of commissioning privateers was borne by investors hoping to gain a significant return from prize money earned from enemy merchants. Generally prize money or purse is a monetary Prize awarded for winning or coming a place in a competition

Description

A privateer was a private warship authorized by a national government. At the time, many merchant vessels were armed with cannons, and naval officers and ratings expected to benefit from prize money if they captured an enemy ship. The privateer was distinguished by the legal framework it operated in—authorized to attack enemy shipping and be treated as prisoners of war if captured. If war was not declared, or if the privateer preyed on neutral shipping, the privateer might well be treated as a pirate by the enemy.

A privateer was an early sort of commerce raider, interrupting enemy trade. Commerce raiding is to destroy the logistics (supplies of an enemy on the open sea rather than engaging the combatants themselves or enforcing a Blockade against them Privateers were of great benefit to a smaller naval power, or one facing an enemy dependent on trade: they disrupted commerce and hence enemy tax revenue, and forced the enemy to deploy warships to protect merchant trade. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without spending public money or commissioning naval officers. For more information on influential privateers, see the List of notable privateers. A Privateer was a private warship authorized by a country's Government by Letters of marque to attack foreign shipping

Legal framework

Being privately owned and run, privateers did not take orders from the naval command. Often privateers were required to limit their activity to an agreed area or the ships of an agreed nation by their letter of marque. A letter of marque is an official warrant or commission from a Government authorizing the designated agent to search seize or destroy specified assets Often the owners or captain would be required to post a bond against breaching these conditions, or they might be liable to pay damages to an injured party. The French, in the Napoleonic Wars, destroyed letters of marque belonging to returning captains. In the United Kingdom, letters of marque were revoked for offenses like piracy, or firing on a warship's boat.

Conditions on board privateers varied widely. Some crews were treated as harshly as naval crews of the time, while others followed the comparatively relaxed rules of merchant ships. Some crews were made up of professional merchant seamen, others of pirates, debtors and convicts. Some privateers ended up becoming pirates, not just in the eyes of their enemies but also of their own nations. William Kidd, for instance, began as a legitimate British privateer but was later hanged for piracy. William " Captain " Kidd ( c 1645 &ndash May 23, 1701) was a Scottish sailor remembered for his

Ships

Any type of vessel could become a privateering vessel. The largest were of the same size and power as small frigates, while the smallest might be a 4-gun schooner. For the bird see Frigatebird. A frigate /ˈfrɪgɪt/ is a warship A schooner (ˈskuːnɚ is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts Schooners were first used by the Some were built as warships: an old or unwanted warship might be sold off to privateer, and a privateer might, if captured by a warship, be commissioned into regular service. Others were essentially merchantmen; some vessels were long-range merchants making their regular trade routes but armed and ready to take advantage of any prize that might come their way.

Privateers generally cruised independently, but it was not unknown for them to form squadrons, or to co-operate with the regular navy. A number of privateers were part of the English fleet that opposed the 1588 Spanish Armada. The Spanish Armada ( Spanish: Grande y Felicísima Armada, "Great and Most Fortunate Navy" or Armada Invencible, "Invincible In fact, the early English attempts to settle North America, under the mandate granted to Sir Walter Raleigh, failed in part because no English ships were permitted to leave England's shores during the lead up to the Armada, as all merchant vessels were considered as having a potential part to play in England's naval defense (but this prevented the timely dispatch of relief to the New World settlement). Sir Walter Raleigh or Ralegh (c 1552 – 29 October 1618 was a famed English writer Poet, Soldier, Courtier and Explorer

The United States used mixed squadrons of frigates and privateers in the War of Independence. Following the French Revolution, French privateers became a menace to British and American shipping in the western Atlantic and the Caribbean, resulting in the Quasi-War, a brief conflict between France and the United States, fought largely at sea, and to the Royal Navy's procuring Bermuda sloops to combat the French privateers. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an The Quasi-War was an Undeclared war fought entirely at sea between the United States and France from 1798 to 1800 The Bermuda sloop is a type of fore-and-aft rigged sailing vessel developed on the islands of Bermuda in the 17th century [1]

History

England, and later the United Kingdom, used privateers to great effect and suffered much from other nations' privateering. The Kingdom of England was a State (927-1707 located in Western Europe dating from the ninth or tenth century to the early eighteenth century when it was legally The Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was a State in northwest Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1800 In the late 16th century, British ships cruised in the Caribbean and off the coast of Spain, trying to intercept treasure fleets from the Spanish Main. Beginning in the 16th century the Spanish treasure fleets (or simply West Indies Fleet from Spanish Flota de Indias) transported various metal resources and agricultural The Spanish Main was the mainland coast of the Spanish Empire around the Caribbean. The English government felt this was justified by the Spanish Armada seizing the ships of Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins, who were trying to sell West African slaves to Spanish colonies, where that activity was illegal. Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral, (c 1540 &ndash 27 January 1595 was an English Privateer, navigator, Slaver, and politician Admiral Sir John Hawkins (also spelled as John Hawkyns) ( Plymouth 1532 &ndash November 12 1595) was an English shipbuilder

At this early stage the idea of a regular navy (the Royal Navy, as distinct from the Merchant Navy) was not present, so there is little to distinguish this activity from regular naval warfare. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) The British Merchant Navy, known simply as the Merchant Navy is the maritime register of the United Kingdom, and describes the seagoing commercial interests The privateering certainly had the support of Elizabeth I, who on occasion lent ships to or bought shares in expeditions. Attacking Spanish ships was part of a policy of aggressive competition with Spain, and helped provoke the first Anglo-Spanish War. The Anglo–Spanish War (1585–1604 was an intermittent conflict between the kingdoms of Spain and England, which was never formally declared Many Successes were relied on privateers also. Capturing a Spanish treasure ship would enrich the Crown as well as strike a practical blow against Spanish domination of America.

Magnus Heinason served the Dutch against the Spanish. Magnus Heinason or Mogens Heinesøn (1545 - 18 January 1589) was a Faroese naval hero trader and Privateer. While bringing home a great deal of money, these attacks hardly dented the flow of gold and silver from Mexico to Spain. More treasure reached Spain in the period 1585-1603 than at any other time in history. Elizabeth was succeeded by the first Stuart monarchs, James I and Charles I, who did not permit privateering. James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625 was King of Scotland as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James Charles I, (19 November 1600 &ndash 30 January 1649 was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. By the mid-19th Century, unregulated marine warfare fell out of fashion, perhaps due to the ever-increasing importance of maritime trade to neutral nations and perhaps due to the dominance of the sea (for the time being) by the British.

There were a number of unilateral and bilateral declarations limiting piracy between 1785 and 1823. However, the breakthrough came in 1856 when the Declaration of Paris signed by all major European powers stated "Privateering is and remains abolished". The Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law of 16 April 1856 was issued to abolish Privateering It regulated the relationship between neutral and belligerent The USA did not sign because a stronger amendment, preventing all private property from capture at sea, was not accepted. In the 19th century many nations passed laws forbidding their nationals from accepting commissions as privateers for other nations.

The last major power to flirt with privateering was Prussia in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War, when Prussia announced the creation of a 'volunteer navy' of ships privately owned and manned, eligible for prize money. Prussia ( Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Prūsija Prūsija Prusy Old Prussian: Prūsa) was most recently a historic state The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War ( 19 July, 1870 — 10 May, 1871 The only difference between this and privateering was that these volunteer ships were under the discipline of the regular navy.

In the first Anglo-Dutch War, English privateers attacked the trade on which the United Provinces entirely depended, capturing over 1,000 Dutch merchant ships, more than double the number of the English merchant fleet at the start of the war. The First Anglo–Dutch War (Eerste Engelse Zeeoorlog (1652–54 (called the First Dutch War in England and the First English Sea-War in the Netherlands was During the subsequent war with Spain, Spanish privateers, including many based in Dunkirk, captured 1,500 English merchants, restoring Dutch international trade. The Anglo-Spanish War fought between the British Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell and Spain between 1654 and 1660. Dunkirk ( French: Dunkerque, dœ̃kɛʀk or; Dutch:; is a harbour city and a commune in the northernmost part of France, in the British trade, whether coastal, Atlantic or Mediterranean, was also attacked by Dutch privateers and others in the Second and Third Anglo-Dutch wars.

18th century

During the Nine Years War, the French adopted a policy of strongly encouraging privateers, including the famous Jean Bart, to attack English and Dutch shipping. The Nine Years' War (1688–97 – often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg – was a major war of the late 17th This is about the historical sailor For others see Jean Bart (disambiguation. England lost roughly 4,000 merchant ships during the war. In the following War of Spanish Succession, privateer attacks continued, Britain losing 3,250 merchantmen and with Dunkirk privateers alone seizing 959 prizes. In the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714 several European powers combined to stop French succession to the Spanish throne and what would likely have been a resulting The scale of losses meant that Parliament passed an updated Cruisers and Convoys Act in 1708 allocating regular warships to the defence to trade.

In the subsequent conflict, the War of Austrian Succession, the Royal Navy was able to concentrate more on defending British ships. The War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748 involved nearly all the powers of Europe Britain lost 3,238 merchantmen, a smaller fraction of her merchant marine than the enemy losses of 3,434. While French losses were proportionally severe, the smaller, but better protected Spanish trade suffered less and it was Spanish privateers who enjoyed much of the allied plunder of British trade on both sides of the Atlantic.

Britons

Sir Francis Drake, who had close contact with the sovereign, was responsible for some damage to Spanish shipping, as well as attacks on Spanish settlements in the Americas in the 16th century. Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral, (c 1540 &ndash 27 January 1595 was an English Privateer, navigator, Slaver, and politician He participated in the successful English defense against the Spanish Armada in 1588, though was partly responsible for the failure of English Armada against Spain in 1589. The Spanish Armada ( Spanish: Grande y Felicísima Armada, "Great and Most Fortunate Navy" or Armada Invencible, "Invincible The English Armada (also known as the Counter Armada, or the Drake-Norris Expedition) was a fleet of warships sent to the Iberian coast by Queen Elizabeth

Captain Christopher Newport led more attacks on Spanish shipping and settlements than any other English privateer. Christopher Newport (c 1561&ndash1618 was an English sailor and Privateer. As a young man, Newport sailed with Sir Francis Drake in the daring attack on the Spanish fleet at Cadiz and participated in England’s defeat of the Spanish Armada. During the war with Spain, Newport seized fortunes of Spanish and Portuguese treasure in fierce sea battles in the West Indies as a privateer for Queen Elizabeth I. The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting In 1590, after leading his men aboard an enemy ship off the coast of Cuba, his right arm was "strooken off", and Newport was referred to thereafter as, “Christopher Newport of the one hand. ” In 1592, Newport captured the Portuguese, Madre de Deus "Mother of God. " She was valued at £500,000, the most valuable prize captured during the Elizabethan privateering era.

Sir Henry Morgan was one of the most famous of all Privateers. Admiral Sir Henry Morgan (Hari Morgan in Welsh) ( ca 1635 &ndash August 25, 1688) was a Welsh Privateer, who made a name Operating out of Jamaica, he carried on an audacious war against Spanish interests in the region, often using cunning tactics. Jamaica (ˈdʒəˈmeɪkə} is an Island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. His operation was prone to excessive cruelty of those he captured, including torture to gain information about booty, and in one case using priests as human shields. Despite reproaches for some of his excesses, he was generally protected by Sir Thomas Modyford, the governor of Jamaica. Colonel Sir Thomas Modyford 1st Baronet, (c 1620 &ndash 2 September 1679) was a planter of Barbados and Governor of Jamaica, 1664-70 He is probably most famous for the enormous amount of booty he took, as well as landing his privateers ashore and attacking land fortifications, including the sack of the city of Panama with only 1,400 crew. Panama, officially the Republic of Panama (República de Panamá) is the southernmost country of Central America.

Other British Privateers of note include Fortunatus Wright, Edward Collier, Sir John Hawkins, Sir Michael Geare and Sir Christopher Myngs. Fortunatus Wright ( 3 May 1712 – 1757 was an English Privateer. Edward Collier may refer to Edwaert Collier (c1640-1708 Dutch painter Edward Collier (buccaneer English buccaneer Admiral Sir John Hawkins (also spelled as John Hawkyns) ( Plymouth 1532 &ndash November 12 1595) was an English shipbuilder Sir Michael Geare (b 1565-? was a 16th century English sailor privateer and merchant Sir Christopher Myngs (1625&ndash1666 English Admiral and Pirate, came of a Norfolk family Notable British colonial privateers in Nova Scotia include Alexander Godfrey of the brig The Rover (privateering ship) and Joseph Barss of the schooner Liverpool Packet. Alexander Godfrey was an 18th century British Privateer. Godfrey was born in Chatham Massachusetts in c Joseph Barss ( 21 February 1776 in Liverpool Nova Scotia &ndash August 3, 1824 near Kentville Nova Scotia) was a sea The latter schooner captured over 50 American vessels during the War of 1812.

Bermudians

Bermuda Gazette of 12 November, 1796, calling for privateering against Spain and its allies, and with advertisements for crew for two privateer vessels.

The English (now British) colony of Bermuda, settled accidentally in 1609, turned from a failed agricultural economy to the sea after the 1684 dissolution of the Somers Isles Company. Ba (officially The Bermuda Islands or The Somers Isles) is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. The Somers Isles Company was formed in 1615 to operate the English colony of the Somers Isles also known as Bermuda, as a commercial venture With a total landmass of 21 square miles, and lacking any natural resources, other than the Bermuda cedar, the colonists applied themselves fully to the maritime trades, developing the speedy Bermuda sloop, which was well suited both to commerce and to commerce raiding. Juniperus bermudiana is a species of Juniper endemic to Bermuda. The Bermuda sloop is a type of fore-and-aft rigged sailing vessel developed on the islands of Bermuda in the 17th century Bermudian merchant vessels turned to privateering at every opportunity, during the 18th Century, preying on the shipping of Spain, France and other nations during a series of wars. They typically left Bermuda with very large crews. This advantage in manpower was vital in seizing larger vessels, which themselves often lacked enough crewmembers to put up a strong defence. The extra crew men were also useful as prize crews for returning captured vessels.

Despite close links to the American colonies (and the material aid provided the continental rebels in the form of a hundred barrels of stolen gunpowder), Bermudian privateers turned as aggressively on American shipping during the American War of Independence. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" An American naval captain, ordered to take his ship out of Boston Harbour to eliminate a pair of Bermudian privateering vessels, which had been picking off vessels missed by the Royal Navy, returned frustrated, saying the Bermudians sailed their ships two feet for every one of ours. The only attack on Bermuda during the war was carried out by two sloops captained by a pair of Bermudian-born brothers (they damaged a fort and spiked its guns before retreating). It greatly surprised the Americans to discover that the crews of Bermudian privateers included Black slaves, as, with limited manpower, Bermuda had legislated that a part of all Bermudian crews must be made up of Blacks.

In fact, when the Bermudian privateer Regulator was captured, virtually all of her crew were found to be Black slaves. Authorities in Boston offered these men their freedom, but all 70 elected to be treated as Prisoners of War. Sent to New York on the sloop Duxbury, they seized the vessel and sailed it back to Bermuda. [2] The American War of 1812 was to be the encore of Bermudian privateering, which had died out after the 1790s, due partly to the build up of the naval base in Bermuda, which reduced the Admiralty's reliance on privateers in the western Atlantic, and partly to successful American legal suits, and claims for damages pressed against British privateers, a large portion of which were aimed squarely at the Bermudians. The War of 1812 was fought between the United States of America and the British Empire, particularly Great Britain and her North American colonies HMD Bermuda (Her/His Majesty's Dockyard Bermuda was the principal base of the Royal Navy in the Western Atlantic between American independence and the Cold War During the course of the American War of 1812, Bermudian privateers were to capture 298 ships (the total captures by all British naval and privateering vessels between the Great Lakes and the West Indies was 1,593 vessels).

United States

Pride of Baltimore II, a modern recreation of a typical early United States privateer.

The United States Constitution authorized the U.S. Congress to grant letters of marque and reprisal; the Confederate Constitution likewise authorized use of privateers. The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses The Constitution of the Confederate States of America was the supreme Law of the Confederate States of America, as adopted on March 11, 1861 Robert Morris, the first American millionaire, partly became wealthy by privateering, and George Washington owned part of at least one privateer ship. Robert Morris Jr (ˈmɒrɨs ( January 20, 1734 – May 9, 1806) was an American merchant and a signer to the United States The American government issued privateering licenses to merchant captains during the Revolutionary War due to the relatively small number of commissioned American naval vessels. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" The American privateers are thought to have seized up to 300 British ships. One of the more successful of these ships was the Prince de Neufchatel, once capturing nine British prizes in swift succession in the English Channel. Construction Neufchatel was 3373 meters long at the gundeck 7

During the War of 1812, the British attacked Essex, Connecticut, and burned the ships in the harbor, due to the construction of a number of privateers. Essex is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The US was not one of the initial signatories of 1856 Declaration of Paris, which outlawed privateering. However, the USA did offer to adopt its terms during the American Civil War, when the Confederates commissioned privateers from many nations. The Confederate States of America (also called the Confederacy, the Confederate States, and CSA) formed as the government set up from 1861

In fiction

Writers of historical fiction have created several series which are set amidst the privateering era. Horatio Hornblower, a British Royal Navy officer created by C. S. Forester, had numerous encounters with privateers over the 11-novel span of his career. Admiral of the Fleet Horatio Hornblower 1st Baron Hornblower, GCB, is a fictional protagonist of a series of Novels by C Cecil Scott Forester was the Pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith ( August 27 1899 – April 2, 1966) an English Patrick O'Brien's "The Letter of Marque" is one of his Jack Aubrey novels set in the context of Nelson's navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The genre of science fiction often borrows from other genres. This genre-blending approach is used by science fiction writer Poul Anderson, in his book The Star Fox, which depicts a future where the system of Letters of Marque is revived and space privateers battle in starships. Poul William Anderson ( November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American Science fiction author who wrote during a Golden A letter of marque is an official warrant or commission from a Government authorizing the designated agent to search seize or destroy specified assets

Several computer games are set in the privateering era. The MMORPG Pirates of the Burning Sea features the Privateer as one of the career (character class) choices for a player who chooses to represent one of the three player nations: Britain, France, or Spain. Pirates of the Burning Sea (abbreviated PotBS) is a Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG developed by Flying Lab Software (FLS In game, Privateers get ability bonuses to boarding combat. Privateers are a unit in the computer games Sid Meier's Colonization and Civilization 3, and are also present in the expansion pack Beyond the Sword for Civilization 4. Colonization is a Computer game by Brian Reynolds and Sid Meier released by Microprose in 1994 Sid Meier's Civilization III is a turn-based strategy Computer game by Firaxis Games, the sequel to Sid Meier's Civilization II Civilization IV Beyond the Sword is the second official Expansion pack of the critically-acclaimed Turn-based strategy Video game Sid Meier's Civilization IV ( Civilization 4 or Civ4) is a Turn-based strategy computer game released in In Golden Sun: The Lost Age for Game Boy Advance, the character Piers starts as a privateer. Golden Sun The Lost Age, released in Japan as is the second installment of a series of role-playing video games developed by Camelot Software Planning

Privateers are referred to in songs, comic books, and cartoons. Elicid Barrett of the Stan Rogers song "Barrett's Privateers" is a privateer. Stanley Allison "Stan" Rogers ( November 29, 1949 &ndash June 2, 1983) was a Canadian Folk musician and Songwriter "Barrett's Privateers" is a folk song in the style of a Sea shanty, written and performed by Canadian musician Stan Rogers, having As well, the Shichibukai from the manga comic book and anime series One Piece are loosely based on privateers. is a Japanese Shōnen Manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, that has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine

Privateering is referred to during the 2006 film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, whereby Lord Beckett of the East India Trading Company attempts to trade a commission as a privateer on behalf of England to Captain Jack Sparrow in exchange for his unique compass. Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest is a 2006 Adventure film of the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' series, the sequel to the 2003 Captain Jack Sparrow is a Fictional character from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise who is portrayed by Johnny Depp.

See also

• Letter of marque
• Reprisal
• Mercenary
• Commerce raiding
• William Kidd
• Fortunatus Wright

Further reading

• Faye Kert, Prize and Prejudice Privateering and Naval Prize in Atlantic Canada in the War of 1812. A letter of marque is an official warrant or commission from a Government authorizing the designated agent to search seize or destroy specified assets Not to be confused with a Reprise. In warfare a reprisal is a limited and deliberate violation of the laws of war to punish an enemy for breaking A mercenary is a person who takes part in an armed conflict who is not a national or a party to the conflict and is "motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by Commerce raiding is to destroy the logistics (supplies of an enemy on the open sea rather than engaging the combatants themselves or enforcing a Blockade against them William " Captain " Kidd ( c 1645 &ndash May 23, 1701) was a Scottish sailor remembered for his Fortunatus Wright ( 3 May 1712 – 1757 was an English Privateer. Research in maritime history, no. 11. St. John's, Nfld: International Maritime Economic History Association, 1997.
• A. Bryant Nichols Jr. , Captain Christopher Newport: Admiral of Virginia, Sea Venture, 2007

External links

• The Library of Economics & Liberty: PRIVATEERING - 1899 Encyclopaedia entry.
• The Canadian Privateering Home Page
• American Privateers in The War Of 1812 Investigates the myths and facts behind a sea battle which some sources contend changed the course of the War of 1812 and the future of America. Includes an extensive examination of the legal and tactical aspects of privateering.
• Andrew Sherburne's Experiences on a Privateer During the Revolutionary War