Commerce Raiding - Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

During Britain's wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France, the Royal Navy dominated the seas. France adopted a guerre de course strategy by licensing civilian privateers to seize British shipping. British East Indiamen of the time were therefore heavily armed to protect themselves against such raids, at the cost of considerable speed and maneuverability. Some East Indiamen, such as the Arniston, were successfully able to fend off these attacks in other parts of the world; others, such as when Kent met Confiance in 1800, were less fortunate.

Even in major naval engagements, wooden ships of the line might rarely be destroyed; for instance, only one warship was sunk at Trafalgar in 1805.

U.S. and British privateers also actively raided each other's shipping during the War of 1812.