Yet on the whole it is fair to say that the private armed ships outfought and outsailed the enemy as impressively as did the few frigates of the American Navy.
There was a class of them which exemplified the rapid development of the merchant marine in a conspicuous manner--large commerce destroyers too swift to be caught, too powerful to fear the smaller cruisers.

They were extremely profitable business ventures, entrusted to the command of the most audacious and skillful masters that could be engaged.

Of this type was the ship America of Salem, owned by the Crowninshields, which made twenty-six prizes and brought safely into port property which realized more than a million dollars.

Of this the owners and shareholders received six hundred thousand dollars as dividends.

She was a stately vessel, built for the East India trade, and was generally conceded to be the fastest privateer afloat.