The Abolition of Prize Money in the United States Navy Reconsidered

Efforts to end prize money monetary awards to naval personnel for the capture of enemy ships and cargoes in wartime for the United States Navy began shortly after the War of 1812. They were redoubled following the Civil War (1861-1865). But only in 1899 did numerous particularly American motives ideological, fiscal, pragmatic, psychological, and strategic unite to put an end to naval prize money in the United States. In contrast, the United Kingdom maintained naval prize money for another fifty years.