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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 ...
Triton was launched at Calcutta in 1815 and sold shortly thereafter to Spanish owners. She was sailing from Bengal to Cadiz when an American-built and outfitted privateer with a letter of marque from the patriotic forces in Buenos Aires captured her in January 1817 in a sanguinary single-ship action during the Argentine War of Independence.
Although not French Navy personnel, corsairs were considered legitimate combatants in France (and allied nations), provided the commanding officer of the vessel was in possession of a valid letter of marque (lettre de marque or lettre de course, the latter giving corsairs their name), and the officers and crew conducted themselves according to ...
William Kidd (c. 1654 – 23 May 1701), also known as Captain William Kidd or simply Captain Kidd, was a Scottish privateer.Conflicting accounts exist regarding his early life, but he was likely born in Dundee and later settled in New York City.
[2] [3] The size of her crew indicates that she was sailing as a privateer. Later, as a packet or merchant vessel, she had a crew of fewer than 10 men. As a privateer, the extra men above the number required to sail her where there to act as prize crews on any vessels she would capture. Captain William Tardiff acquired a letter of marque on 22 ...
Barton was launched in 1794 as a West Indiaman, sailing primarily to Barbados.She was of average size for vessels launched at Liverpool at that time. [4] She sailed under letters of marque and several times repelled attacks by French and Spanish privateers in single-ship actions.
Rossie was a schooner launched at Baltimore in 1807. [1] At the outbreak of the War of 1812 she became a privateer, operating under a letter of marque.She made two voyages, the first as a privateer, and the less successful second as a letter of marque.