Privateers and the Deadly Reality of British Prison Ships. Guest: Professor Richard Bell. Privateers were government-sanctioned pirates who caused significant economic damage to the British while the Continental Navy struggled. William Russell, a schoolte

Privateers and the Deadly Reality of British Prison Ships. Guest: Professor Richard Bell. Privateers were government-sanctioned pirates who caused significant economic damage to the British while the Continental Navystruggled. William Russell, a schoolteacher, joined a privateering vessel but was captured and imprisoned in the HMS Jersey, a floating "black hole" in Brooklyn Bay. Mortality rates on these ships reached fifty percent, making them the deadliest sites of the entire war. Despite the risks, over 50,000 Americans served on privateering missions, illustrating the global commercial impact of the Revolution and the high human cost for those captured by British forces. 2
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