5 British officials complained they could not guarantee the safety of civilian trade. official calling privateers “our cheapest and best navy.” 4 Though many were lost, thousands sailed and disrupted British trade. During the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, privateers vastly outnumbered Navy ships, with one U.S. By contrast, it would take four years to build a single new combatant for the Navy. Letters of marque could be issued quickly, with privateers on the hunt within weeks of the start of a conflict. 3 Congress also could indemnify privateers from certain liabilities and curb the potential for abuse and violations of international law through surety bonds and updated regulations on conduct. 2 (“Privateer” can refer to the crew of a privateering ship or to the ship itself, which also can be referred to as a letter of marque).Ĭongress would likely set policy-for example, specifying privateer targets, procedures, and qualifications-then authorize the President to oversee the privateering regime. district courts, with proceeds traditionally paid to the privateers. In the United States, prize claims are adjudicated by U.S. Captured vessels and goods are called prizes, and prize law is set out in the U.S. Constitution expressly grants Congress the power to issue them (Article I, section 8, clause 11). Privateering is not piracy-there are rules and commissions, called letters of marque, that governments issue to civilians, allowing them to capture or destroy enemy ships. Finally, despite pervasive myths to the contrary, U.S. Indeed, an attack on Chinese global trade would undermine China’s entire economy and threaten the regime’s stability. It would attack an asymmetric vulnerability of China, which has a much larger merchant fleet than the United States. Privateering, authorized by letters of marque, could offer a low-cost tool to enhance deterrence in peacetime and gain advantage in wartime. The easiest and most comfortable course is to ask for more ships and aircraft, but with a defense budget that may have reached its peak, that may not be a viable strategy. Naval strategists are struggling to find ways to counter a rising Chinese Navy. For a discussion of the law regarding letters of marque, see: U.S.
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