A government commission, carried in a letter of marque, separates a privateer from a pirate. The owner pays for the ship, crew, weapons, ammunition, and operational risk, while captured prizes provide the hoped-for return. The government gets a self-financing auxiliary force and access to large privately owned ships when it lacks a standing navy or the infrastructure to maintain one. American owners later offered their ships to Britain or France. Privateering could cross national lines when wartime employment promised profit.
Chapter · 6:13-10:26
Letters of marque turn private ships into naval tools
Letters of marque gave privately financed ships legal cover to attack enemy trade and let governments draw wartime naval strength from merchant wealth.