The institution that valued that commodity least was the Royal Navy. Perhaps the most resented British naval practice in this period was impressment, the seizure of experienced seamen (and, after 1798 ...

Indeed, the U.S. Navy was, in large measure, founded to prevent acts of piracy and impressment in the Middle East. By allowing the Houthis to run amok, the U.S. broke with this strong tradition.

The end result was a navy that built an empire and truly ruled the waves. For the whole of this period impressment – the roving of press gangs round English towns conscripting men to serve – was ...