After L'Insurgente struck, the prize crew still had to bring her in with about 170 French prisoners aboard. The discussion then returns to Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Stoddert and the reduction of the ship's valuation from 120,000 dollars to 84,000 dollars. The two US destroyers later named for him make an odd comparison with the reduced reward and its effect on captors' incentives. A Royal Navy comparison suggests that an Admiralty politician associated with such a prize-money dispute would have been much less likely to receive a ship name. Reward policy also shaped naval memory and institutional culture.
Notable Point · 38:24-39:42
Benjamin Stoddert, prize money, and ship names
Two US destroyers later carried Benjamin Stoddert's name, despite his department's reduction of L'Insurgente's prize payment.