Blockade Runner Officers and the Merchant Shipping Act, 1854

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Blockade Runner Officers
Officers in command of British ships, such as many blockade runners during the American Civil War, had to meet the requirements of the British Merchant Shipping Act of 1854. The law included requirements for ships, ports, officers, and crews as well as myriad other matters related to the sea. The crucial requirement for officers was that without a master and at least an "only mate," carrying a certificate "no ship shall go to sea. . . ."

In order to become a master or mate, officers were required to obtain and carry with them either a Certificate of Competency or Certificate of Service from the Board of Trade. That was done by appearing for an examination before an examiner qualified by a Local Marine Board, and paying a fee.
A Certificate of Service could be obtained by producing before a Local Marine Board a valid record of having served on a ship of "One hundred Tons Burden or upwards." The requirements were more demanding for officers of Foreign Going ships than for ships in the Home Trade, or smaller than 100 tons.
A Certificate of Competency was obtained by passing a rigorous examination and showing "sobriety, experience, ability, and general good conduct aboard ship as Master, or as First, Second, or only Mate of a Foreign-going Ship, or as Master or Mate of a Home Trade Passenger Ship."

The requirement for a British Certificate presented a challenge to sea officers from other nations, particularly the Confederacy. Most steam-powered blockade runners came from Great Britain. So most blockade runners were built in Great Britain, registered British, and commanded by British officers. The Confederate government, and several state governments, bought British ships and registered them Confederate allowing them to put whoever they chose in command. Private Confederate shipowners sometimes registered their vessels Confederate but more often kept the registration British.
Where Confederate ownership was hidden, allowing a ship to fly the British flag, there were several ways of fulfilling, or working around the Merchant Shipping Act. Confederate officers sometimes took and passed the examinations to become certified to command British ships. Confederate shipowners, whether public or private, also hired British officers to nominally command ships but placed their own chosen Confederate officers to act in charge at times. The details of how that dual command system worked are vague and seem negotiable. A significant theme in an excellent recent biography of a Scottish shipmaster is devoted to exploring aspects of that ambiguity.

A tangential theme related to the nationality of blockade-runner officers is what happened to them if they were captured. Confederate merchant marine officers were usually held for breaking any of a half dozen aspects of blockade violation but might be released after some time served. Confederate naval officers were most often imprisoned for more considerable periods unless released in an exchange or given special consideration. Foreign citizens caught as officers or crew of a blockade runner were mostly released after a few weeks or months. A small number of officers was usually retained until they could provide evidence to a prize court when they were usually released to find their way home. A few individual blockade runners were singled out and held for longer periods, some more than six months. Those were settled after complaints, most often from the British government.

The US legal system worked with the Lincoln administration to develop standard procedures for handling captured blockade violators. Prize Courts took the lead in interpreting the law, defining a range of specific violations of law, each with recognized punishments. The Navy Department generally sought longer incarceration. The State Department generally sought a faster release, usually in answer to diplomatic pressure. The State Department generally ended up choosing how foreign blockade breakers were treated on the personal level. The Supreme Court ultimately decided on how international law related to the blockade would stand. Postbellum, the decisions were gathered in three volumes entitled "The Prize Cases." More prominent international disagreements about the blockade are included in the Diplomatic Correspondence printed annually by the State Department. Some Civil War-related issues remained active well into the 1870s.

The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854 is available free online from the Internet Archive
 
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