![]() ![]() Approximately 300 American ships were captured by the French Navy and privateers under a Letter of marque issued by the government of France. France, plagued by massive crop failures and desperately in need of grain and other supplies, commissioned numerous French privateers who both legally and illegally captured cargo from merchant vessels of every flag engaged in foreign trade with Britain. The Quasi-War was an undeclared war fought mostly at sea between the United States and French Republic from 1798 to 1800. This list does not include ships captured by pirates.Name of ship and flag of country listed are those in use at time of ship's capture and will sometimes link to a page with name and flag used after capture. ![]() The symbol ' † ' following a commander's name denotes he was killed in action.Names of commanders are those in command when ships were captured.Dates of capture are listed chronologically and appear in bold.In these cases contracts between the owners of the vessels on the one hand, and the captains and the crews on the other, established the distribution of the proceeds from captures. Private ships were also authorized by various countries at war through a Letter of marque, legally allowing a ship and commander to engage and capture vessels belonging to enemy countries. Throughout the 1800s war prize laws were established to help opposing countries settle claims amicably. As an incentive to search far and wide for enemy ships, the proceeds of the sale of the vessels and their cargoes were divided up as prize money among the officers and crew of capturing crew members with the distribution governed by regulations the captor vessel's government had established. Both military and merchant ships were captured, often renamed, and then used in the service of the capturing country's navy, or in many cases sold to private individuals who would break them up for salvage, or use them as merchant vessels, whaling ships, slave ships, or the like. If a ship proved to be a valuable prize efforts would sometimes be made to capture the vessel while inflicting the least amount of damage as was practically possible. Throughout naval history during times of war battles, blockades, and other patrol missions would often result in the capture of enemy ships or those of a neutral country. La Pomone contre les frégates HMS Alceste et Active, painted Pierre Julien Gilbert. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |