Kilde: Wikipedia
En kaper (fransk: corsaire, engelsk: privateer) er et privat skib, der ved en bemyndigelse (kaldet "kaperbrev", fransk: lettre de marque, engelsk: letter of marque) fra en krigsførende stat berettiges til at deltage i fjendtligheder til søs og navnlig til at kapre fjendtlige handelsskibe. Ejeren af eller kaptajnen på en sådan kaperbåd fik i almindelighed kun kaperbrev mod at påtage sig visse forpligtelser, fx til at overholde krigsretsreglerne og lade spørgsmålet om lovligheden af kapringen afgøre ved prisedomstole, oprettede af den stat, der udstedte kaperbrevet.
Kaperbrev af 1807 (Reglement for Kaperfarten og Prisenes lovlige Paadømmelse i 1807) blev i Danmark udstedt i forbindelse med Kanonbådskrigen 1807-1812.
Reglementet bekendtgjorde, at et kaperfartøj skulle være i besiddelse af et kaperbrev udstedt af staten mod betaling. Kaperbrev skulle erhverves for at lovliggøre opbringning af priser tilhørende eller chartret af fjendtlige nationer.Kaperbrevet indeholdt regler for udstyr af kaperfartøjet samt for behørig opførsel overfor det kaprede og beslaglagte fartøj, eksempelvis:
Kaperføreren skulle have dansk borgerret.
Have patent som styrmand eller skipper.
Være behørigt udstyret med håndvåben og skyts.
Kaperføreren skulle først praje skipperen på udvalgte/ anholdte skib og lade denne komme om bord på kaperskibet med anholdte skibs skibspapirer.
Var papirerne i behørig orden skulle aktuelle fartøj tillades at fortsætte sin rejse.
Ved begrundet mistanke til ægtheden af skibets papirer, stod det kaperføreren frit for at borde anholdte skib for nærmere undersøgelse.
Kaperføreren måtte ved visitationen under ingen omstændigheder selv bryde eller åbne nogen del af lasten. Dette arbejde skulle udføres af skibets besætning under påsyn.
Valgte kaperføreren at opbringe det pågældende skib, skulle det føres til nærmeste købstad i det danske rige.
En dommer og to edsvorne personer skulle besigtige ladningen før priseretten tog over.
Blev opbragte skib godkendt som prise, blev skib og ladning solgt på offentlig auktion.
Ved priseret forsås dels en retsinstans, der pådømmer prisesager (prisedomstol), dels læren om de retsregler, der gælder for opbringelse af priser.[1] Ved en prise forstås et skib eller en vare, der under en søkrig af en krigsførende magt er blevet opbragt på krigsskuepladsen, og hvor denne opbringelse er blevet godkendt af en dertil indrettet, kompetent domstol kaldet en priseret. Opbringelse af priser adskiller sig fra rekvisition, hvor den krigsførende part lægger beslag på varer og skibe for at forsyne sig, især ved, at mens rekvisition indebærer erstatningspligt over for den skadelidte, gælder dette ikke, når opbringelsen er blevet godkendt ved dom ("god Prise", prisedømme), fordi den skadelidt har forbrudt sig mod de retningslinjer, som den krigsførende part har erklæret at ville praktisere under sin krigsførsel. Den person, som leder opbringningen af et skib i henhold til dette princip, kaldes undertiden prisemester. Ved prisepenge forstås den del af de opbragte skibes og deres ladnings værdi, som løbende udbetales til besætningen på det skib, der forestår opbringning, som modydelse for dette arbejde.
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. The commission, also known as a letter of marque, empowers the person to carry on all forms of hostility permissible at sea by the usages of war, including attacking foreign vessels during wartime and taking them as prizes. Historically, captured ships were subject to condemnation and sale under prize law, with the proceeds divided between the privateer sponsors, shipowners, captains and crew. A percentage share usually went to the issuer of the commission. Since robbery under arms was once common to seaborne trade, all merchant ships were already armed. During war, naval resources were auxiliary to operations on land so privateering was a way of subsidizing state power by mobilizing armed ships and sailors.
In practice the legality and status of privateers historically has often been vague. Depending on the specific government and the time period, letters of marque might be issued hastily and/or the privateers might take actions beyond what was authorized by the letters. The privateers themselves were often simply pirates who would take advantage of wars between nations to gain semi-legal status for their enterprises. By the end of the 19th century the practice of issuing letters of marque had fallen out of favor because of the chaos it caused and its role in inadvertently encouraging piracy.
A privateer is similar to a mercenary except that, whereas a mercenary group receives a set fee for services and generally has a formal reporting structure within the entity that hires them, a privateer acts independently with generally no compensation unless the enemy's property is captured.
In the Age of Sail, a letter of marque and reprisal, or, simply a letter of marque (in France, a lettre de marque or sometimes a lettre de course) was a government license that authorized a person, known as a privateer or corsair, to attack and capture enemy vessels. Once captured, the privateer could then bring the case of that prize before their own admiralty court for condemnation and transfer of ownership to the privateer. A letter of marque and reprisal would include permission to cross an international border to effect a reprisal (take some action against an attack or injury) and was authorized by an issuing jurisdiction to conduct reprisal operations outside its borders.
Popular among Europeans from the late Middle Ages up to the 19th century, cruising for enemy prizes with a letter of marque was considered an honorable calling that combined patriotism and profit. Such privateering contrasted with attacks and captures of random ships, which was unlicensed and known as piracy; piracy was almost universally reviled. In reality, the differences between privateers and pirates were often at best subtle, and at worst more a matter of interpretation.
In addition to the meaning of the license itself, the terms letter of marque and privateer were sometimes used to describe the vessels used to pursue and capture prizes. In this context, a letter of marque was a lumbering, square-rigged cargo carrier that might pick up a prize if the opportunity arose in its normal course of duties. In contrast, the term privateer generally referred to a fast and weatherly fore-and-aft rigged vessel, heavily armed and heavily crewed, intended exclusively for fighting.
Prize /praɪz/ is a term used in admiralty law to refer to equipment, vehicles, vessels, and cargo captured during armed conflict. The most common use of prize in this sense is the capture of an enemy ship and its cargo as a prize of war. In the past, the capturing force would commonly be allotted a share of the worth of the captured prize. Nations often granted letters of marque that would entitle private parties to capture enemy property, usually ships. Once the ship was secured on friendly territory, it would be made the subject of a prize case, an in rem proceeding in which the court determined the status of the condemned property and the manner in which it was to be disposed of.