Privateers

Outfitting ships was expensive and one way to raise a fleet at little cost was to issue "letters of marque" that entitled the owner of a private ship to outfit it for war and use it to attack enemy ships. In return for official permission the ship's owner split any booty captured with the royal treasury. Men who engaged in this activity were referred to as "privateers."

Privateers were in effect legal pirates. Or at least legal to those governments with which they shared the loot. Sir Francis Drake, who started his career in 1570, was a hated pirate to Spain, but a hero in England where Queen Elizabeth addressed him as "my dear pirate." His popularity with the crown was assured after one expedition where he captured for treasury 300,000 pounds of booty, keeping another 10,000 for himself. Drake not only raided ships, but attacked Spanish towns and mule trains carrying gold. So favored was Drake by the Queen that she presented him with a special sword to use upon her enemies.

There was a danger in using privateers, though. Often these independent captains were tempted to attack ships of countries besides those their nation was at war against. Also in times of peace it left thousands of men jobless who had been trained to attack ships and seize goods. The temptation to turn pirate during these times was immense and many men did so.