Mutiny At Sea

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 220, 17 September 1938, Page 9 (Supplement)

Mutiny At Sea

COMPARATIVELY few mutinies have been recorded in the long history of the British Navy. Writing of six that took place in the eighteenth century, Mr.. J. G. Bullocke tells us in his book "Sailors' Rebellion: A Century of Naval Mutinies" (the author is history and English lecturer at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich) that the conditions leading up to the first of these mutinies have never been disclosed. This mutiny occurred among officers of four ships of a. squadron commanded by Admiral Benbow. In a battle with a French squadron of five ships in August, 1702—a battle which was continued for six days in the efforts of Admiral Benbow to prevent the escape of the enemy —four of his ships failed to give him proper support, and practically ran away, although the enemy wa« in inferior strength. Three of the captains of these four ships were brought to courtmartial, and as a result two of them were shot and the other was cashiered. The captain of the fourth ship died before he could be brought to courtma rtiaL After describing the battle at some length and the failure of four ships to take any active part in it, Mr. Bullocke writes: "The mutiny of the captains against Benbow is one of the most extraordinary and mysterious episodes in naval history, and the full explanation of it will never be forthcoming. The curious discretion of those who mii6t have known the full story seem& to suggest that some scandalous episode must lie behind, it. It is indeed peculiar that so many people were involved in the matter, and yet not one has left the full story behind him or hinted as to its true nature." Captain's Brutality Led to a Mutiny The only one of these six mutinies in which the mutineers killed their officers was that on board the 32-gun frigate Hermione in September, 1797. The vessel's commanding officer was Captain Pigot. "He was not merely a madman; he was an unfeeling bully of the worst order—a.wry<tevil incarnate," writes Mr. Bullocke. ®hring the evening of September 20, 1797, Pigot ordered the men aloft to reef the topsails. As he thought they were not doing the work smartly he called out that the last man down would be flogged. "On the face of it this was bad enough, but actually it showed a more exquisite sense of cruelty than it superficially indicated," states Mr. Bullocke. "As the men lay out on the yard the most active of them take the earrings on the ends, and may therefore be expected to be the last 'men off. In other words. Pigot was promising to punish not the worst, but the beet! of the sailors; he was not going to flog for a fault, but because he liked flogging. because he wag a maniac. "From the moment that this brutal threat was bellowed to the men the two on the outside of the yard knew they were in danger. When the operation was completed, and the men were crowding into the ratlines, each desperately trying to outpush his neighbour.

these two made a determined attempt to spring over their comrades. Both missed their footing, and fell on the deck at Pigot's feet, being killed instantly. "This was more than he had expected. Tn his delight and pleasure he quite forgot about flogging the last man down. His passion had been satiated in another, more satisfactory way. He gazed at the quivering corpses for & moment, then "Throw the lubbers overboard!' he said, and. unconcernedly went below. This appalling incident stirred in the men a passion for revenge, and plans were made to seize the ship. The next night about 10.30 a group of them, armed with cutlasses and tomahawks, broke into Pigot's cabin and attacked him. He was severely injured, and his body was thrown overboard. The maddened men attacked the other officers, killed 10 of them, and threw the bodies into the sea. They decided to take the ship to the Spanish port of La Guayra, in Venezuela!, and hand her over to the Spaniards. This was done, and a month elapsed before the captain of the British frigate Diligent discovered, through the capture of a Spanish prize, what had become of her. England and Spain were then at war, and the Spanish authorities refused to surrender the mutineers of the ship. But eventually most of the ringleaders of the mutiny were brought to justice. Two years after the mutiny the Hermione figured in what Mr.* Bullocke describes as "one of the most gallant actions in the annals of the British Navy." One night in September, 1799, a force of 100 British sailors from the frigate Suspense rowed in small boats into the harbour of Puerto Cabell, in Venezuela, and captured the Hermione under the guns of the forts and the shore batteries, and took her out of the harbour. The casualties on the British side in the fight with the Spaniards on board were only 12 wounded.

INSPECTOR PLAYFAIR

Solves the Fitzmalahide Case, as outlined on page eight.

*pHERE is only one theory which will fit the facts. Stella had murdered her aunt at Reginald's instigation, intending—as it subsequently transpired—to incriminate her cousin Eustace. Cessation of the snow upset her plans. She telephoned Reginald who, with admirable presence of mind, returned to "The Cedars," having secured his own alibi, and. under cover of darkness, carried Stella from the house. Playfair's questions show that lip had laid his finger on the weak point-s of Reginald's performance.