Shanghaiing (taking by force) US sailors on the open sea.

Shanghaiing refers to the practice of kidnapping people to serve as sailors.

The word shanghaiing is a verbal noun (gerund) for the practice of using trickery, deception, or violence to conscript men to work as sailors on ships. The verb form is shanghai, named after the port in China that these ships often frequented in the mid nineteenth century. Example sentence:

The practice of shanghaiing was a form of involuntary servitude.

During the 19th century, unsuspecting individuals were often shanghaied and forced to work as sailors on ships against their will.

The city came first. The term "shanghai" originally referred specifically to kidnapping men and forcing them to be sailors on a ship. It's believed that this came to be known as "shanghaiing" due to the fact that many of these ships were headed to Shanghai, it being a major seaport.