Ambrose Light (ship)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with Lightship Ambrose.
History
NameAmbrose Light
BuilderWaldoborough, Maine
Laid down1857
Captured1885
General characteristics
Class and typebrigantine
Tons burthen215
Armamentone 60 pound cannon

Ambrose Light was a

USS Alliance as a suspected pirate vessel in 1885.[3] The accusation of piracy
was rejected by a court of law.

Capture

Capture of Ambrose Light
Part of the
Colombian Civil War

Watercolor of USS Alliance
DateApril 24, 1885
Location
off Colombia, Caribbean Sea
Result Ambrose Light and Colombian rebels captured.
Belligerents
 United States Colombian rebels
Commanders and leaders
Lewis Clark unknown
Strength
1 gunboat 1 brigantine
Casualties and losses
none 60 captured
1 brigantine captured

On April 24,

blockade Cartagena. Commander Clark disregarded this and took the rebels prisoner and the brigantine as a prize. The ship was put under the command of Lieutenant Fisher with ten others and sent to be condemned in New York. After arriving on June 1, a stowaway
was found, starving to death, hiding behind some casks in the cargo hold. The man immediately received medical attention.

Legal case

Following the court proceedings, it was agreed that Alliance had lawfully seized the rebels as pirates because Pedro Lara, as a rebel, had no right to commission warships.

After a legal decision, the ship was returned to her Colombian owners, in return for costs. The court ruled that the ship could legally be used to transport troops between Colombian ports during the Colombian Civil War.[4] When fighting broke out in Cartagena, American Secretary of State Thomas F. Bayard released Ambrose Light and her crew.[1][2]

This incident was the basis for a decision in

pirate in the United States.[citation needed
]

See also

  • West Indies Anti-Piracy Operations of the United States

Citations

  1. ^ a b Oppenheim, p. 435
  2. ^ a b "History of USS Alliance". Naval History and Heritage Command. Archived from the original on 2014-12-16.
  3. ^ "In Charge of a Prize Crew.; Arrival of the Supposed Pirate Captured By the Alliance" (PDF). The New York Times. 1885-06-02. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
  4. ^ "The Ambrose Light Not a Privateer" (PDF). The New York Times. 1885-07-03. Retrieved 21 April 2009.

References

  • Oppenheim, Lassa (2006). International law: a treatise, Volume 1. The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. 1584776099.
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