How did the practice of taking prizes evolve in the Royal Navy?

by pizza_the_mutt

In the novel "Master and Commander", the crew of the HMS Sophie is motivated almost entirely by the profit to be made by selling off captured prizes. Is this an accurate depiction of Royal Navy practices in the Napoleonic era? Was this practice shared by other navies? Why was profiting from plunder not practiced by other branches (an army officer complains that he can't get rich the same way). When and how was this practice phased out?

DanKensington

Delicious prize money, yes. You'll be quite interested in these previous posts on the matter: