Pirates and freebooters roamed coastal waters virtually unchallenged, plundering ships in the Atlantic, Caribbean and ever-closer to home which resulted in heavy losses for English commerce.Įssentially a privateer was a privately owned merchant ship (or an individual serving aboard it) equipped at their own expense, that had been commissioned by the Crown with a Letter of Marque to legitimately (used in its loosest sense here) take or raid vessels belonging to an enemy government. During the Elizabethan period the term ‘ Sea Dogs’ was allotted to various buccaneers and adventurers enlisted by Queen Elizabeth I as privateers, or sea-raiders.ĭespite its shaky legal and moral foundation, the practice of privateering formed a key part of Elizabeth’s naval strategy as she developed a ‘supplementary navy’ to help bring piracy on the seas – then in its so-called ‘Golden Age’ – under control.
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