United States News pre-1870

[KWorld]

Secretary of the Navy's office, Washington, D.C.

The new Secretary of the Navy, George Robeson, was looking over the announcement of the Hague Convention when something caught his eye.  "Piracy, in the Caribbean???"

He slapped the paper down and shouted for his subordinate, Lt. Riley.  "Riley, come in here!"

"Yes, Mr Secretary?"  The younger man asked as he entered the room.

"This Dutch call for a conference mentions piracy in the Caribbean.  Now, they also mention piracy in the Far East, which I'm sure is not unusual, but the Caribbean?  Had they mentioned the recent piracy amongst our whaling fleets I should have thought it unsurprising, but what sort of piracy in the Caribbean are they talking about?"

Lt. Riley shook his head.  "I'm sure I don't know, Mr. Secretary, but it can be looked into."

"Do that.  I want to know what they're talking about, if it's actual ships or someone's canoe in one of the South American rivers.  What ships do we have that would be good for running down and hanging pirates?"

"Well, the Iowas would be superb at it, they're fast enough to catch most raiders and their armor would mean they'd in less danger than most.  That's really what they're designed for.  The Wampanoags are in ordinary at the moment, but are faster if unarmored.  They'd be able to catch most any raider, and few pirates would stand up to 300 pound bolts.  They were designed as commerce raiders themselves, but would be good patrollers as well."




In the mail the next day, the Dutch naval attache' to the United States found a letter, asking him, with all diplomatic politeness, to visit the Navy Department at his earliest convenience to discuss the matter of "piracy in the Caribbean".

[KWorld]

Secretary of State Hamilton Fish read the agenda that the ambassador to the Netherlands had sent via telegraph.  He nodded to himself, several times, then paused.  "Blockades?  Why blockades?"  He paused a moment more, then let out a quiet "Ah......, yes."

He jotted down a quick note to be given to his secretary later.



The next day, the ambassador to the Netherlands received a telegram from Washington.

REQUEST ADD RESPONSIBILITY OF BUILDING NATIONS FOR SHIPS COMMITTING ACTS OF PIRACY TO DISCUSSION AGENDA  STOP  FISH  STOP