When Was The Last Letter Of Marque Given Out??? | History Forum

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You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. When was the last Letter of Marque given out???

• Thread starter Lawnmowerman
• Start date May 15, 2017
• Tags letter marque

Lawnmowerman

Joined Mar 2010 9,845 Posts | 31+ Letters of Marque where given to privateers to enable them to legally capture the shipping of countries that the country issuing the marque was at war with. It was common practice up to and including the Napoleonic wars but has declined since. During the US Civil War the South issued letters of Marque, but most European countries failed to recognize them and refused the Southern Privateers safe ports. Where these the last Letters of Marque issued??? Did the North issue similar letters. Surely by WWI the practice had ended, can these letters still be legally issued???

Edric Streona

Joined Feb 2016 5,108 Posts | 718+ Japan According to wiki ... December 1941 and the first months of 1942, Goodyear commercial L class blimp Resolute operating out of Moffett Field in Sunnyvale, California, flew anti-submarine patrols. As the civilian crew was armed with a rifle, many thought this made the ship a privateer, and that she and sister commercial blimps were operated under letter of marque until the Navy took over operation.[34] Without congressional authorization, the Navy would not have been able to legally issue any letters of marque. At sea it seems Bolivia issued letters of marque in 1879.

johnincornwall

Joined Nov 2010 15,174 Posts | 4,573+ Cornwall

Edric Streona said: According to wiki ... December 1941 and the first months of 1942, Goodyear commercial L class blimp Resolute operating out of Moffett Field in Sunnyvale, California, flew anti-submarine patrols. As the civilian crew was armed with a rifle, many thought this made the ship a privateer, and that she and sister commercial blimps were operated under letter of marque until the Navy took over operation.[34] Without congressional authorization, the Navy would not have been able to legally issue any letters of marque. At sea it seems Bolivia issued letters of marque in 1879. Click to expand...

Just before they lost the opportunity to do so!! H

hama

Joined Apr 2017 482 Posts | 0+ the coast

Lawnmowerman said: During the US Civil War the South issued letters of Marque, but most European countries failed to recognize them and refused the Southern Privateers safe ports. Click to expand...

They refused to recognize them because most European powers had agreed to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Declaration_Respecting_Maritime_Law Here's a list of all countries that have since agreed to the Paris Declaration. Notice the USA is conspicuously absent, as far as I know they technically still have the right to authorize privateers, at least by US law: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/appl...Pages_NORMStatesParties&xp_treatySelected=105

AlpineLuke

Joined Oct 2011 41,285 Posts | 8,057+ Italy, Lago Maggiore The US Constitution, still today, allows the Congress to issue letters of Marque ... Art. I, Section 8, 11

11: To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; Click to expand...

David Vagamundo

Joined Jan 2010 4,467 Posts | 239+ Atlanta, Georgia USA

johnincornwall said: Just before they lost the opportunity to do so!! Click to expand...

Ha! A Bolivian letter of marque would be quite a find! Maybe it would be valid for Lake Titicaca? M

MAGolding

Joined Aug 2015 4,764 Posts | 1,118+ Chalfont, Pennsylvania

David Vagamundo said: Ha! A Bolivian letter of marque would be quite a find! Maybe it would be valid for Lake Titicaca? Click to expand...

If Boliva was allied to a country with seaports, Bolivian privateers could operate out of those seaports if that allied country has not signed the declaration outlawing privateers. If my memory is correct science fiction writer Avram Davidson (1923-1993) was said in an introduction to one of his stories to have served under a letter of marquee. He served as a navy/Marine corps hospital corpsman in the Pacific during World War II. Thus it is possible that he might have served for some time on a vessel with a letter of marquee against the Japanese, so the story is at least slightly possible.

Ancientgeezer

Joined Nov 2011 8,940 Posts | 226+ The Dustbin, formerly, Garden of England I would have thought that letters of marque would have been pretty useful over the last few years to deal with Somali, Eritrean and Far Eastern pirates. Few countries (The USA is an exception) permit armed guards on their merchant ships or even allow anymore than basic weapons to be carried on a ship docking at a port. An armed merchant cruiser without the bother of a United Nations Human Rights supervisor would have been a nice little earner from the insurance companies. H

hama

Joined Apr 2017 482 Posts | 0+ the coast Last edited: May 16, 2017

Ancientgeezer said: Few countries (The USA is an exception) permit armed guards on their merchant ships or even allow anymore than basic weapons to be carried on a ship docking at a port. Click to expand...

Does the UK not allow that? I remember maybe five years back chatting with a guy who worked for a British shipping firm and he mentioned a few ex-merc types pacing the deck when they were passing through the Red Sea. Here's a news article from back around 2011 that says your PM was planning to give armed guards the OK: Somali piracy: Armed guards to protect UK ships - BBC News Login or Register / Reply

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