PIRATE PRIZE MONEY

Hokitika Guardian, 11 June 1930, Page 7

PIRATE PRIZE MONEY

) Piracy in the China seas has resulted in reviving in the British Navy the awarding of prize-money, a custom dating back to the remotest days of navigation. The crew of the British submarine L 4 has been granted shares in an award for the “capture and'destruction of pirates” in the less frequented waters off th e China coast. As ancient sea custom dictates, the money was proportionately distributed among the crew on the basis of rank. Th c shares, as announced by the British Admiralty, varied from a •Mitle more than £7 for officers of the L 4, to about £1 6s for “eleventh class” seamen. This is a. far cry from the England of the eighteenth century, when navy pay was small and prize money was held out as an “.encouragement to seamen.” Then, the hope of sharing in the spoils of even one captured ship was enough to send many a man to sea. Why such an encouragement took hold of the imaginations of underpaid seamen and nautical adventurers is explained by the riches sometimes seized on th e high seas.- In October, 1798, two Spanish frigates, bound from America with treasure, were captured by four English vessels and successfully taken into port. A captain’s share in. th e prize money of these two Spanish ships, aside from the value of the captured vessels, amounted to more than £40,000. When Queen Elizabeth was called upon to meet the Armada, she was embarrassed by the small size of her navy. Rich merchants, traders, arid ship-owners were called into conference and bargained with. A satisfactory division of spoils and of prize money was agreed upon—one way of enabling a nation' to pay ships to enter war. This division of prize money came to be known as “King’s ransom.” The earliest maritime nations, however, made no division.; they matfcer-of-factiy added to their <-■ possessions, if they had the power, by capturing wlint they could on the seas. Individuals, following the same practice in peace time,' came to be known as pirates. BngtgnnrzEgarmasßEßPCT™?