Piracy and Maritime Crime
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U.S. Naval War College U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons Newport Papers Special Collections 1-2010 Piracy and Maritime Crime Bruce A. Elleman Andrew Forbes David Rosenberg Follow this and additional works at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/usnwc-newport-papers Recommended Citation Elleman, Bruce A.; Forbes, Andrew; and Rosenberg, David, "Piracy and Maritime Crime" (2010). Newport Papers. 35. https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/usnwc-newport-papers/35 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Special Collections at U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Newport Papers by an authorized administrator of U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen Cover This perspective aerial view of Newport, Rhode Island, drawn and published by Galt & Hoy of New York, circa 1878, is found in the American Memory Online Map Collections: 1500–2003, of the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division, Washington, D.C. The map may be viewed at http://hdl.loc.gov/ loc.gmd/g3774n.pm008790. Inside Front.ps I:\_04 Jan 2010\_NP35\NP_35.vp Monday, January 11, 2010 12:33:08 PM Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen Piracy and Maritime Crime Historical and Modern Case Studies Bruce A. Elleman, Andrew Forbes, and David Rosenberg, Editors N ES AV T A A L T W S A D R E NAVAL WAR COLLEGE PRESS C T I O N L L U E E G H E Newport, Rhode Island T R I VI IBU OR A S CT MARI VI NP_35.ps I:\_04 Jan 2010\_NP35\NP_35.vp Friday, January 08, 2010 8:36:20 AM Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen To Charles W. Koburger, Jr., scholar and friend Naval War College The Newport Papers are extended research projects that the Newport, Rhode Island Director, the Dean of Naval Warfare Studies, and the Center for Naval Warfare Studies President of the Naval War College consider of particular Newport Paper Thirty-five interest to policy makers, scholars, and analysts. January 2010 The views expressed in the Newport Papers are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the President, Naval War College Naval War College or the Department of the Navy. Rear Adm. James P. Wisecup, USN Correspondence concerning the Newport Papers may be Provost addressed to the Director of the Naval War College Press. Amb. Mary Ann Peters To request additional copies, back copies, or subscriptions Dean of Naval Warfare Studies to the series, please either write the President (Code 32S), Robert C. Rubel Naval War College, 686 Cushing Road, Newport, RI 02841-1207, or contact the Press staff at the telephone, fax, Naval War College Press or e-mail addresses given. Director: Dr. Carnes Lord Reproduction and printing are subject to the Copyright Act Managing Editor: Pelham G. Boyer of 1976 and applicable treaties of the United States. This document may be freely reproduced for academic or other Telephone: 401.841.2236 noncommercial use; however, it is requested that Fax: 401.841.1071 reproductions credit the author and Newport Papers series DSN exchange: 948 and that the Press editorial office be informed. To obtain E-mail: [email protected] permission to reproduce this publication for commercial Web: www.usnwc.edu/press purposes, contact the Press editorial office. Twitter: http://twitter.com/NavalWarCollege ISSN 1544-6824 Printed in the United States of America ISBN 978-1-884733-65-9 NP_35.ps I:\_04 Jan 2010\_NP35\NP_35.vp Friday, January 08, 2010 8:36:20 AM Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen Contents Foreword, by Bruce A. Elleman v Introduction, by Bruce A. Elleman, Andrew Forbes, and David Rosenberg 1 CHAPTER ONE A Modern History of the International Legal Definition of Piracy 19 by Penny Campbell PART ONE: PIRACY IN EAST ASIA AND THE SOUTH CHINA SEA CHAPTER TWO Piracy on the South China Coast through Modern Times 35 by Robert J. Antony CHAPTER THREE The Taiping Rebellion, Piracy, and the Arrow War 51 by Bruce A. Elleman CHAPTER FOUR Selamat Datang, Kapitan: Post–World War II Piracy in the South China Sea 65 by Charles W. Koburger, Jr. CHAPTER FIVE The Political Economy of Piracy in the South China Sea 79 by David Rosenberg PART TWO: PIRACY IN SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA CHAPTER SIX The Looting and Rape of Vietnamese Boat People 97 by Bruce A. Elleman CHAPTER SEVEN Piracy and Armed Robbery in the Malacca Strait: A Problem Solved? 109 by Catherine Zara Raymond NP_35.ps I:\_04 Jan 2010\_NP35\NP_35.vp Friday, January 08, 2010 8:36:20 AM Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen iv THE NEWPORT PAPERS CHAPTER EIGHT Piracy in Bangladesh: What Lies Beneath? 121 by Samuel Pyeatt Menefee CHAPTER NINE Confronting Maritime Crime in Southeast Asian Waters: Reexamining “Piracy” in the Twenty-first Century 137 by Sam Bateman PART THREE: PIRACY IN AFRICA CHAPTER TEN President Thomas Jefferson and the Barbary Pirates 157 by Robert F. Turner CHAPTER ELEVEN The Limits of Naval Power: The Merchant Brig Three Sisters, Riff Pirates, and British Battleships 173 by Andrew Lambert CHAPTER TWELVE Guns, Oil, and “Cake”: Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea 191 by Arild Nodland CHAPTER THIRTEEN Fish, Family, and Profit: Piracy and the Horn of Africa 207 by Gary E. Weir Conclusions, by Bruce A. Elleman, Andrew Forbes, and David Rosenberg 223 Bibliography 243 About the Contributors 249 Index 253 The Newport Papers 271 NP_35.ps I:\_04 Jan 2010\_NP35\NP_35.vp Friday, January 08, 2010 8:36:20 AM Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen Foreword Piracy is a basic and fundamental concern for all navies.1 From almost the beginning of state-sponsored navies, piracy suppression has been one of their major responsibili- ties—when Julius Caesar was captured by pirates in 76 BCE, the first thing he did after paying the pirates’ ransom and being released was to fit “out a squadron of ships to take his revenge.”2 Despite piracy’s importance and the continued frequency of piratical attacks, however, relatively few scholarly works have been written analyzing cases of modern piracy and piracy suppression in terms of varying strategic, policy, and opera- tional decisions. This edited collection of case studies attempts to fill this gap. Therehavebeenanumberofimportanthistoricalstudiesthathavedealtwiththesub- jects of piracy and piracy suppression. Books written from the point of view of those wishing to end piracy have tended to focus on legal issues, including the rights of vic- tims, the procedures and decisions of Admiralty courts in punishing pirates, and the capture of piracy ships as prizes. Others have looked at the existence of piracy in terms of one particular place or time period, with the Barbary Coast and the Caribbean Sea claiming disproportionate shares of attention. Pirates are often romanticized; Forbes magazine has recently listed history’s top-earning pirates, including Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy at US$120 million (2008 dollars), Sir Francis Drake at US$115 million, and Thomas Tew at US$103 million. More famous pirates, like Edward Teach (“Blackbeard”), came in far down the list, at tenth place, with only US$12.5 million.3 One of the first books to examine both sides of the piracy issue appeared in 1724, Lives of the Most Notorious Pirates. Many have suspected that Daniel Defoe was the author, writing under the pen name “Captain Charles Johnson.” In addition to discussing the exploits of many famous pirates, the author openly blamed various European govern- ments for piracy’s creation, since state-sponsored privateering often led to piracy. As one solution, he advised the British government to establish a public fishery to end piracy: “Wherefore, if there was a public spirit among us, it would be well worth our while to establish a national fishery which would be the best means in the world to pre- vent Piracy, employ a number of the poor, and ease the nation of a great burthen by lowering the price of provision in general, as well as of several other commodities.”4 At the turn of the eighteenth century, the Royal Navy was primarily responsible for using force to suppress piracy. British privateers continued to roam the seas, preying on Spanish gold. However, several changes in British maritime legal practice made a NP_35.ps I:\_04 Jan 2010\_NP35\NP_35.vp Friday, January 08, 2010 8:36:20 AM Color profile: Disabled Composite Default screen vi THE NEWPORT PAPERS renewed fight against piracy possible. On 13 October 1696, Sir Charles Hedges, judge of the High Court, revised Admiralty law so that pirates could be punished anywhere: “Now piracy is only a sea term for robbery, piracy being a robbery committed within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty. If any man be assaulted within that jurisdiction, and his ship or goods violently taken away without legal authority, this is robbery and piracy.”5 Antipiracy reforms were not enacted rapidly, but by the 1720s the Royal Navy had made it easier for its officers to prosecute pirates anywhere in the world: “Vice-Admiralty courts were established in the colonies with powers to act against pirates,” where “seven naval warrant officers, sitting as a court, could hold a trial for piracy, and ships and goods captured from pirates were treated as prize, giving the navy a financial incentive to hunt for pirates.”6 Duringthisperiod,Newport,R.I.(picturedonthefrontcover), was used by Thomas Tew to trade in pirate cargo, with one cargo alone valued at £100,000.7 The Royal Navy attacked pirates in the Caribbean, along the coast of North America, and as far away as the Indian Ocean.