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A letter of marque and reprisal (French: lettre de marque; lettre de course) was a government license in the Age of Sail that authorized a private person, known as a privateer or corsair, to attack and capture vessels of a foreign state at war with the issuer, licensing international military operations against a specified enemy as reprisal for a previous attack or injury.
A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. [1] Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or delegated authority issued commissions, also referred to as letters of marque, during wartime. The ...
A privateer was a private person authorized by a country's government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping. Privateering was an accepted part of naval warfare from the 16th to the 19th centuries, authorised by all significant naval powers. Notable privateers included:
A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. [1] Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or delegated authority issued commissions, also referred to as letters of marque, during wartime. The ...
A captured American privateer captain, 20-year-old Gideon Olmsted, shipped aboard the British sloop Active in Jamaica as an ordinary hand in an effort to get home. Olmsted organized a mutiny and commandeered the sloop. But as Olmsted's mutineers sailed their prize to America, a Pennsylvania privateer took the Active. [14]
The commissions were known as "letters of marque", which gave them the authority to raid enemy ships and exemption from piracy charges. [citation needed] Privateers have existed from as far back as the Middle Ages, where "Letters of reprisal" were issued to ship owners who were wishing to seek revenge for a loss of their own ship [34]
It’s been more than 22 years since 9/11 and more than 12 since Osama bin Laden’s death. But the al-Qaida leader’s open “Letter to America” attempting to justify the Sept. 11, 2001 ...
The holders of letters of marque were also required to be the actual owners of the ships; this was to discourage speculation in the letters. [11] CSS Mananass {1904 drawing} An anomalous feature of the legislation governing Confederate privateering was that it allowed attacking enemy warships.