Convoys arise whenever trade needs protection from piracy or wartime attack. The familiar word appears around the twelfth century, but the practice is much older. Merchant vessels can combine their own defensive strength, hire protection, or receive warship escorts from the state. Roman dominance made grouping less necessary in the central imperial period, while declining control brought the practice back. The important condition is therefore not a single invention date but the combination of valuable trade, maritime insecurity, and protective assets.
Chapter · 2:05-3:14
Convoy origins and mutual defense at sea
See why merchant ships have grouped for protection since antiquity, well before the word convoy became common.