Crew of Prizes

[AThompson]

Hi, all.

I have a multi-level question regarding crew of prizes.

1) Assuming you capture a merchantman of an enemy nation and you get that ship to a friendly port. What happens to the ship's original civilian crew? Do they get released, are they thrown in prison (though that seems harsh, as they're civilians and probably didn't fight back), or something else?

2) What happens to the prize crew of the captured ship? So, you've taken the ship to a friendly port, now what? Your original ship is probably hundreds of miles away from you now and you don't know exactly where it is. How do you rejoin your ship? Especially if your ship is a frigate or schooner as these things run around everywhere.

[OpanaPointer]

The American State Papers has material on prizes, mostly regarding payment for them. this does include incidental information. Been a good long while since I was in there.

[marcelo_malara]

Hi, all.

I have a multi-level question regarding crew of prizes.

1) Assuming you capture a merchantman of an enemy nation and you get that ship to a friendly port. What happens to the ship's original civilian crew? Do they get released, are they thrown in prison (though that seems harsh, as they're civilians and probably didn't fight back), or something else?

2) What happens to the prize crew of the captured ship? So, you've taken the ship to a friendly port, now what? Your original ship is probably hundreds of miles away from you now and you don't know exactly where it is. How do you rejoin your ship? Especially if your ship is a frigate or schooner as these things run around everywhere.

Hi! There is an important book, Wheaton´s Elements of International Law. I came to it reading about the Confederates campaign against the Union merchant shipping. Confederates ships would carry an exemplar onboard, just to know how to act in certain circumstances.

https://play.google.com/store/books/det ... AAJ&rdot=1

In page 567 the book says:

" The captain, officers, and members of the crew, when nationals
of the enemy State, are not made prisoners of war, on condition that
they bind themselves, on the faith of a formal written promise,
not to undertake, while hostilities last, any service connected with
the operations of the war" (g).

For the fate of the prize crew, clearly they were on the their own, and somehow had to manage how to return home.