Commerce raiding or guerre de course is a naval strategy of attacking an opponent's commercial shipping rather than contending for control of the seas with its naval forces. The objective is to make the war too expensive for the opponent to continue it.
Usually, commerce raiding is chosen by the weaker naval power who has little chance to succeed against the naval forces of its opponent.
During Britain's wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France, the Royal Navy dominated the seas. France adopted a guerre de course strategy by licensing civilian privateers to seize British shipping.
World Wars Atlantic
During World War I and II, the First and Second Battle of the Atlantic saw Germany conducting a guerre de course against Britain and its allies mainly using submarines. However, Germany also used merchant raiders and warships to attack allied shipping — the geographical enclosed position of Germany and the strength of the Royal Navy, later aided by the United States Navy meant that it was difficult to deploy warships.
World War II Pacific
During World War II, the United States Navy used its submarines against Japanese shipping. The bulk of the Japanese merchant marine was sunk by American submarines. By the end of the war, Japan only had 12% of the tonnage of her pre-war shipping afloat.
Commerce raiding or guerre de course is a naval strategy of attacking an opponent's commercial shipping rather than contending for control of the seas with its naval forces.
However, Germany also used merchant raiders and warships to attack allied shipping — the geographical enclosed position of Germany and the strength of the Royal Navy, later aided by the United States Navy, meant that it was difficult to deploy warships.
Although raider warfare was not entirely strange to them, they could not build on the vast amount of experience as the Germans did, and as a result, their ships were far less effective.
The Egyptians, the Sumerians and later inhabitants of Mesopotamia, the Cretans, the Syrians, the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Arabs, and the Western Europeans have excelled in commerce, tapping the resources of the East, Oceania, the Americas, and Africa.
In N and central Europe, the earlier supremacy of the Hanseatic League, the Rhenish cities, and the cities of N France and Flanders was eclipsed by the rise of national states.
The theory of commerce as imposed by the national state has varied from the mercantilism of the 17th and 18th cent.
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