Prize Money

Prize money has a distinct meaning in warfare, especially naval warfare, where it was a monetary reward paid out to the crew of a ship for capturing or sinking an enemy vessel. The claims for the bounty are usually heard in a Prize Court. This article covers the arrangements of the British Royal Navy, but similar arrangements were used in the navies of other nations, and existed in the British Army and other armies, especially when a city had been taken by storm.

Famous quotes containing the words prize and/or money:

    Eternall God, O thou that onely art
    The sacred Fountain of eternall light,
    And blessed Loadstone of my better part;
    O thou my heart’s desire, my soul’s delight,
    Reflect upon my soul, and touch my heart,
    And then my heart shall prize no good above thee;
    And then my soul shall know thee; knowing, love thee;
    And then my trembling thoughts shall never start
    From thy commands, or swerve the least degree,
    Or once presume to move, but as they move in thee.
    Francis Quarles (1592–1644)

    Knighterrantry is a most chuckleheaded trade, and it is tedious hard work, too, but I begin to see that there is money in it, after all, if you have luck. Not that I would ever engage in it, as a business, for I wouldn’t. No sound and legitimate business can be established on a basis of speculation. A successful whirl in the knighterrantry line—now what is it when you blow away the nonsense and come down to the cold facts? It’s just a corner in pork, that’s all.
    Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)