# Sources for Amounts Paid as Prize Money? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 9, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sources-for-amounts-paid-as-prize-money/739976 "2015-12-09T18:59:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![History\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@History\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Geek)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sources-for-amounts-paid-as-prize-money/739976/1 "2015-12-09T18:59:35Z")
Been awhile since I posted anything here but since my Google Fu is failing me big time on this, I’m turning to my favorite crowdsource for data. I’m trying to find some reference showing the amounts paid by the Royal Navy for ships “bought into the service” during the Napoleonic Wars. I can find a lot of references stating that prize money was paid for the capture of specific ships, just not how much was actually handed out. Or even something giving a range or an average. So far I have seen [one Wikipedia entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_20_October_1793) giving details for the captured French frigate _Réunion_: “purchased for service with the Royal Navy after repairs had been completed… rated as a 36-gun frigate carrying 12 pounder cannon. Authorisation for the payment of prize money was published in the London Gazette on 4 February 1794,[10] amounting to £5,239…” And another for [HMS _Niemen_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Niemen_%281809%29), a French ship captured in 1809 which “The Admiralty purchased … for the sum of £29,979 2s 10d in prize money…” So I can only find two numbers, with a span of 15 years, and there is a difference of £24,740 paid for ships that are reasonably close in class. Both would have ranked as fifth-rate frigates according to[this chart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rating_system_of_the_Royal_Navy#Royal_Navy_rating_system_in_force_during_the_Napoleonic_Wars), and the Royal Navy converted the Niemen to a 38-gun ship after capturing her. I know the cargos of the ships are accounted for when determining prize money, as well as the condition of the ship and her guns, and presumably other factors too, just like when you trade in a used car. And the _Gazette_ references cited as sources in those entries don’t give amounts of prize money paid, they typically just say that an amount has been authorized for persons involved in the capture of such-and-such ship. I’ve even chased down some references to the UK National Archives for the Admiralty Prize Court, but the documents that might have the numbers I’m looking for aren’t scanned. Anybody have a source with some more numbers? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2015, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sources-for-amounts-paid-as-prize-money/739976/2 "2015-12-09T19:42:23Z")
Some good info here: [Prizetaking | A Peoples' History 1793 – 1844 from the newspapers](http://www.houghton.hk/?p=218) > [@](#): > > Sat 26th February 1803 > > The prize account of the seizure of the Dutch fleet in the Zuider Zee is complete. Admiral Sir Andrew Mitchell will get £199,000 (around £16/17million today)as his one eighth share. Some other examples > [@](#): > > Perhaps the greatest amount of prize money awarded was for the capture of the Spanish frigate Hermione on 31 May 1762 by the British frigate Active and sloop Favourite. The two captains, Herbert Sawyer and Philemon Pownoll, received about £65,000 apiece, while each seaman and Marine got £482-485.[3][4][5] > > The prize money from the capture of the Spanish frigates Thetis and Santa Brigada in October 1799, £652,000, was split up among the crews of four British frigates, with each captain being awarded £40,730 and the Seamen each receiving £182 4s 9¾d or the equivalent of 10 years pay.[2] > > In January 1807, the frigate Caroline took the Spanish ship San Rafael as a prize, netting Captain Peter Rainier £52,000.[ > > The crewmen of USS Omaha hold the distinction of being the last American sailors to receive prize money, for taking a German blockade runner on 6 November 1941, just before America’s entry into World War II, though the money would not be awarded until 1947. > [http://telitube.uk/2015/06/22/prize-money/](http://telitube.uk/2015/06/22/prize-money/) ---
**Author:** ![History\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@History\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Geek)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sources-for-amounts-paid-as-prize-money/739976/3 "2015-12-10T16:40:04Z")
Thanks for the links. Gives me the idea that maybe _Réunion_ was a tub or else there is a typo in the amount cited in that article. Even allowing for my hazy memory that _Thetis_ and _Santa Brigada_ were carrying treasure and thus inflated their value as prizes, it seems that tens of thousands of pounds is a more typical payout. I’ll have to dig into this and do a little math to get some averages. ---
**Author:** ![History\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b19c9b/32.png) [@History\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/History_Geek)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sources-for-amounts-paid-as-prize-money/739976/4 "2015-12-10T17:07:12Z")
Ah, once you know the things to search for Google will give you more on what you seek. Found [a description](https://books.google.com/books?id=Qb0-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA63&lpg=PA63&dq=frigate+caroline+spanish+san+rafael&source=bl&ots=wozqo7PFKO&sig=oUJbj3bOS2h0SCDhr1SMRagkimo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjE-vT24dHJAhUD02MKHWZWD_kQ6AEILjAE#v=onepage&q=frigate%20caroline%20spanish%20san%20rafael&f=false) of the _Caroline_ taking _San Rafael_ - another Spanish treasure ship of sorts, it turns out. She carried a cargo of copper and $500,000 in specie. So the prizes for these Spanish ships are more like outliers because of the value of their cargos. But knowing her cargo and the amount paid in prize money for her is a good start to figure the value of the vessel herself. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sources-for-amounts-paid-as-prize-money/739976/5 "2015-12-10T19:55:09Z")
Works by the redoubtable N. A. M. Rodger — my post #81 in this [**thread**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=685128), and Bernard Ireland mentioned in an earlier post there — might have some information. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sources-for-amounts-paid-as-prize-money/739976/6 "2015-12-10T20:48:23Z")
> [@History\_Geek](#): > > Thanks for the links. > Gives me the idea that maybe _Réunion_ was a tub or else there is a typo in the amount cited in that article. From the Wikipedia article on Reunion > [@](#): > > Crescent was still able to manoeuvre across Réunion’s stern and rake her.[4] This raking caused huge damage to the French ship and her crew, and although Réunion continued to resist for some time, she was no longer able to move effectively. Perhaps it cost much to repair her.