D defs.my
Entry 1 sense Webster, 1913

Volunteer navy

· Vol·un·teer· na·vy · IPA
01 A navy of vessels fitted out and manned by volunteers who sail under the flag of the regular navy and subject to naval discipline. Prussia …
  1. 1.
    A navy of vessels fitted out and manned by volunteers who sail under the flag of the regular navy and subject to naval discipline. Prussia in 1870, in the Franco-German war, organized such a navy, which was commanded by merchant seamen with temporary commissions, with the claim (in which England acquiesced) that it did not come within the meaning of the term privateer.