General Small Ship Pirates

[BlackBat242]

Sounds like: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/358766.The_Pirates_of_Ersatz

Later reprinted under the title The Pirates of Zan, it is available in full here: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24035

The Pirates of Zan is a science fiction novel by Murray Leinster, originally serialized in Astounding Science Fiction in 1959 as "The Pirates of Ersatz". It was nominated for the 1960 Hugo Award for Best Novel.