The American War of 1812 was to be the encore of Bermudian privateering, which had died out after the 1790s, due partly to the buildup of the naval base in Bermuda, which reduced the Admiralty's reliance on privateers in the western Atlantic, and partly to successful American legal suits, and claims for damages pressed against British privateers, a large portion of which were aimed squarely at the Bermudians (unfortunately for the privateers, the British government was trying to woo the United States away from its affiliation with France and so gave a favourable ear to American shipowners). During the course of the American War of 1812, Bermudian privateers were to capture 298 ships (the total captures by "all" British naval and privateering vessels between the Great Lakes and the West Indies was 1,593 vessels).