In 1777, in the midst of the Revolutionary War George Washington was having a hard time keeping his men and the armory supplied. With a fledgling Continental Navy he turned to civilian privateering or as we like to call them, "Patriot Pirates." These Patriot Pirates were permitted under international law to plunder the enemy's commercial ships. And plunder they did.
More than 2,000 Patriot Pirate ships sailed from colonial ports. They seized 600 ships in American waters and hundreds more in the North Atlantic.
None of this detracts from the courage and sacrifice of the Continental Navy. But even the navy's most ardent commander, John Paul Jones, conceded that naval service couldn't compete with Patriot Pirate's loose discipline, better pay, shorter cruises, and explicit permission to avoid tangling with enemy warships.
Indeed, the Patriotic Pirate industry tapped the same vein of self-interest and rugged individualism that had led the Colonies to seek independence in the first place.
