This included attacking foreign vessels and taking them as prizes and taking crews prisoner for exchange. The commission empowered the holder to carry on all forms of hostility permissible at sea by the usages of war.
A sovereign or delegated authority issued commissions, also referred to as letters of marque, during wartime. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. Person or ship engaging in maritime warfare under commission East Indiaman Kent (left) battling Confiance, a privateer commanded by French corsair Robert Surcouf in October 1800, as depicted in a painting by Ambroise Louis Garneray.Ī privateer is a private person or vessel that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war.
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