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54-571: The Spithead and Nore mutinies were two major mutinies by sailors of the Royal Navy in 1797. They were the first in an increasing series of outbreaks of maritime radicalism in the Atlantic World . Despite their temporal proximity, the mutinies differed in character. The Spithead mutiny was a simple, peaceful, successful strike action to address economic grievances, while the Nore mutiny

108-517: A 50% increase in mutinies among European navies and merchant companies. Scholars have linked it to the radical political ideologies developing at the time, including the development of working class consciousness among sailors. Both explanations have been the subject of extensive academic investigation. Political analyses often emphasize the radical discourse and conduct of the Nore mutineers as evidence of their ideological motivation. Class analyses often emphasize harsh discipline and economic grievances of

162-578: A French port in the West Indies. Other mutinies took place off the coast of Ireland and at the Cape of Good Hope and spread to the fleet under Admiral Jervis off the coast of Spain. On HMS Defiance , a court martial took the evidence of the oaths of allegiance to the United Irishmen and eleven men were sentenced to hang for it. In the years following Spithead and the Nore, there was about

216-772: A body of royal marine forces on shore, and of keeping them in exact discipline, and it brings into force the Army Act for one year. Until 1998, mutiny and another offence of failing to suppress or report a mutiny were each punishable with death. Section 21(5) of the Human Rights Act 1998 completely abolished the death penalty in the United Kingdom . (Prior to this, the death penalty had already been abolished for murder, but it had remained in force for certain military offences and treason , although no executions had been carried out for several decades.) This provision

270-468: A century after the passing of the first Mutiny Act. From 1689 to 1803, the Mutiny Act occasionally expired during times of peace. Yet statutory power was given to the crown to make Articles of War that operated in the colonies and elsewhere beyond the seas in the same manner as those made by prerogative in times of war. In 1715, in consequence of the rebellion, this power was created in respect of

324-408: A flotilla of fifty loyal ships to prevent the mutineers moving on the city of London. It was largely fear of this blockade moving down river that made the mutineers reconsider their actions and begin to waver. The mutineers expanded their initial grievances and blockaded London, preventing merchant vessels from entering the port, and the principals made plans to sail their ships to France, alienating

378-575: A period of war. In 1689, the first Mutiny Act was approved, which passed the responsibility to enforce discipline within the military to Parliament . The Mutiny Act, altered in 1803, and the Articles of War defined the nature and punishment of mutiny until the latter were replaced by the Army Discipline and Regulation Act in 1879. This, in turn, was replaced by the Army Act in 1881. Today

432-501: A supportive mutiny broke out on 15 ships in Plymouth , who sent delegates to Spithead to take part in negotiations. Seamen's pay rates had been established in 1658, and because of the stability of wages and prices, they were still reasonable as late as the 1756–1763 Seven Years' War ; however, high inflation during the last decades of the 18th century had severely eroded the real value of the pay. Pay raises had meanwhile been granted to

486-485: Is a fixed permanent code. But constitutional traditions are fully respected by the insertion in it of a section providing that it shall come into force only by virtue of an annual act of parliament. This annual act recites the illegality of a standing army in time of peace unless with the consent of parliament, and the necessity nevertheless of maintaining a certain number of land forces (exclusive of those serving in India) and

540-467: Is not mutiny, which requires collaboration or conspiracy to disobedience. Nore The Nore is a long bank of sand and silt running along the south-centre of the final narrowing of the Thames Estuary , England . Its south-west is the very narrow Nore Sand. Just short of the Nore's easternmost point where it fades into the channels it has a notable point once marked by a lightship on

594-605: Is the obligation of every member of the U.S. military , a principle established by the Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials following World War II and reaffirmed in the aftermath of the My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War . However, a U.S. soldier who disobeys an order after deeming it unlawful will almost certainly be court-martialed to determine whether the disobedience was proper. In addition, simple refusal to obey

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648-505: The Admiralty for two weeks, focusing their demands on better pay, the abolition of the 14-ounce " purser's pound " (the ship's purser was allowed to keep two ounces of every true pound —16 ounces—of meat as a perquisite , equivalent to 57 g in every 454 g), and the removal of a handful of unpopular officers. Neither flogging nor impressment was mentioned in the mutineers' demands, even though ending impressment had been one of

702-640: The Armed Forces Act 2006 defines mutiny as follows: (2)For the purposes of this section a person subject to service law takes part in a mutiny if— (a)in concert with at least one other person subject to service law, he— (i)acts with the intention of overthrowing or resisting authority; or (ii)disobeys authority in such circumstances as to subvert discipline; (b)he agrees with at least one other person subject to service law to overthrow or resist authority; or (c)he agrees with at least one other person subject to service law to disobey authority, and

756-635: The Articles of War , eventually expanding to a demand that the King dissolve Parliament and make immediate peace with France. These demands infuriated the Admiralty, which offered nothing except a pardon (plus the concessions already made at Spithead) in exchange for an immediate return to duty. Captain Sir Erasmus Gower commissioned HMS Neptune (98 guns) in the upper Thames and put together

810-642: The London Corresponding Society and the United Irishmen . The mutiny at Spithead (an anchorage near Portsmouth ) lasted from 16 April to 15 May 1797. Sailors on 16 ships in the Channel Fleet , commanded by Admiral Lord Bridport , protested against the living conditions aboard Royal Navy vessels and demanded a pay rise, better victualling , increased shore leave, and compensation for sickness and injury. On 26 April

864-644: The Parliamentary forces in the time of Charles I and Oliver Cromwell were governed not by an act of the legislature, but by articles of war similar to those issued by the king and authorized by an ordinance of the Lords and Commons exercising in that respect the sovereign prerogative. This power of law-making by prerogative was however held to be applicable during a state of actual war only, and attempts to exercise it in times of peace were ineffectual. Subject to this limitation, it existed for considerably more than

918-587: The Royal Navy". HMS Defiance , which had been part of the "floating republic" at Spithead, did see United Irish oaths administered (according to court-martial evidence) in a further mutiny during the Irish rebellion in the early summer of 1798 . Eleven of the crew were hanged and ten sentenced to transportation . In September 1797, the crew of Hermione mutinied in the West Indies , killing almost all

972-582: The Spithead mutineers as pointing to "class solidarity". Recent attempts have been made to class these approaches under a heading of masculine identity, arguing that interpretations of what it meant to be a man for sailors marked the difference of motivation between the two mutinies. Mutiny During the Age of Discovery , mutiny particularly meant open rebellion against a ship's captain . This occurred, for example, during Ferdinand Magellan 's journeys around

1026-518: The Spithead mutiny, the government and the Admiralty were not inclined to make further concessions, particularly as they felt some leaders of the Nore mutiny had political aims beyond improving pay and living conditions. The mutineers were denied food and water, and when Parker hoisted the signal for the ships to sail to France, all of the remaining ships refused to follow. Meanwhile, Captain Charles Cunningham of HMS  Clyde , which

1080-450: The act of Parliament. The Mutiny Act 1873 was passed in this manner. Such matters remained until 1879 when the last Mutiny Act was passed and the last Articles of War were promulgated. The Mutiny Act legislated for offences in respect of which death or penal servitude could be awarded. Meanwhile, the Articles of War, while repeating those provisions of the act, constituted the direct authority for dealing with offences for which imprisonment

1134-458: The administration of the act in many matters formerly dealt with by the Articles of War. These rules, however, must not be inconsistent with the provisions of the Army Act itself, and must be laid before parliament immediately after they are made. Thus in 1879, the government and discipline of the army became for the first time completely subject either to the direct action or the close supervision of Parliament. A further notable change took place at

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1188-417: The agreed disobedience would be such as to subvert discipline. The same definition applies in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force . The military law of England in early times existed, like the forces to which it applied, in a period of war only. Troops were raised for a particular service and were disbanded upon the cessation of hostilities. The crown, by prerogative , made laws known as Articles of War for

1242-403: The army, militia, and naval officers. At the same time, the practice of coppering the submerged part of hulls , which had started in 1761, meant that British warships no longer had to return to port frequently to have their hulls scraped, and the additional time at sea greatly altered the rhythm and difficulty of seamen's work. The Royal Navy had not made adjustments for any of these changes, and

1296-405: The blockade, and only Royal Navy victualling (i.e., supply) ships be detained. The ostensible reason provided in the order was that "the release of the merchant vessels would create a favourable impression on shore", although this decision may have had more to do with such a wide and complex undertaking as interdicting all the merchant traffic on the busy Thames . After the successful resolution of

1350-480: The crew of Sandwich seized control of the ship. Several other ships in the same location followed this example, though others slipped away during the mutiny despite gunfire from the ships that were attempting to use force to hold the mutiny together. The mutineers had been unable to organise easily because the ships were scattered along the Nore (and were not all part of a unified fleet, as at Spithead), but they quickly elected delegates for each ship. Richard Parker

1404-833: The east coast of Britain. In the First World War the Nore Command principally had a supply and administrative function, but in the Second World War it oversaw naval operations in the North Sea along the East coast of Britain, guarding against invasion and protecting trade. Also during the Second World War a series of defensive towers known as Maunsell Forts was built in the Thames estuary to protect

1458-515: The end of the 19th century a larger ship with a revolving light had been instituted, but after about 1915 the authorities ceased to use one. Sea Reach No. 1 Buoy, as at 2006, marks the anchorage-point where the No.3 lightship stood, about midway between Shoeburyness , Essex and Sheerness , Kent . The earlier line crossing the deeper eastern part of the shoal where No.1 lightship stood, the line between Havengore Creek, Essex and Warden Point, Kent remains

1512-474: The forces in the kingdom, but apart from and in no respect affected the principle acknowledged all this time that the crown of its mere prerogative could make laws for the government of the army in foreign countries in time of war. The Mutiny Act 1803 effected a great constitutional change in this respect: the power of the Crown to make any Articles of War became altogether statutory, and the prerogative merged in

1566-427: The government and discipline of the troops while thus embodied and serving. Except for the punishment of desertion, which was made a felony by statute in the reign of Henry VI , these ordinances or Articles of War remained almost the sole authority for enforcing discipline until 1689. That year, the first Mutiny Act was passed and the military forces of the crown were brought under the direct control of Parliament. Even

1620-399: The history of English military law up to 1879 may be divided into three periods, each having a distinct constitutional aspect: (I) prior to 1689, the army, being regarded as so many personal retainers of the sovereign rather than servants of the state, was mainly governed by the will of the sovereign; (2) between 1689 and 1803, the army, being recognised as a permanent force, was governed within

1674-495: The last dog watch , as that had been the signal to begin the mutiny. The authorities were more than ready to see in the mutinies, not only the hand of English radicals but also among the large contingent of Irish sailors, the hand of the United Irishmen . Much was made of Valentine Joyce, among the delegates at Spithead, described by Edmund Burke as a "seditious Belfast clubist". That the Valentine Joyce in question

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1728-658: The line where the estuary of the Thames nominally becomes the North Sea . A lit buoy today stands on this often map-marked divisor: between Havengore Creek in east Essex and Warden Point on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Until 1964 it marked the seaward limit of the Port of London Authority . As the sandbank was a major hazard for shipping coming in and out of London, in 1732 it received

1782-655: The locally most deep water to the east, the Sheerness Approach . The Nore is a hazard to shipping, so in 1732 the world's first lightship was moored over it in an experiment by Robert Hamblin, who patented the idea. This must have proved successful, as by 1819 England had nine lightships. The Nore lightship was run by Trinity House , the general lighthouse authority for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar. The early Nore lightships were small wooden vessels, often Dutch-built galliots . By

1836-445: The military law of England. The act contained a proviso saving the right of the crown to make Articles of War, but in such a manner as to render the power in effect a nullity by enacting that no crime made punishable by the act shall be otherwise punishable by such articles. As the punishment of every conceivable offence was provided, any articles made under the act could be no more than an empty formality having no practical effect. Thus

1890-617: The motivations for the Mutiny. The mutineers maintained regular naval routine and discipline aboard their ships (mostly with their regular officers), allowed some ships to leave for convoy escort duty or patrols, and promised to suspend the mutiny and go to sea immediately if French ships were spotted heading for English shores. Because of mistrust, especially over pardons for the mutineers, the negotiations broke down, and minor incidents broke out, with several unpopular officers sent to shore and others treated with signs of deliberate disrespect. When

1944-761: The nominal (conventional) limit of the Thames with the North Sea. The Nore has been the site of a Royal Navy anchorage since the age of sail , being adjacent to both the city and port of London and to the Medway , England's principal naval base and dockyard on the North Sea. During the French Revolutionary War it was the scene of a notorious mutiny , when seamen protesting against their poor pay and working conditions refused orders and seized control of their ships in May 1797. The mutiny ended in June, and while

1998-483: The officers in revenge for a number of grievances, including throwing into the sea, without proper burial, the bodies of three men killed by falling from the rigging in a desperate attempt not to be the last men on deck, which was punishable by flogging. The Hermione was taken by the crew to the Spanish port of La Guaira . On 27 December, the crew of Marie Antoinette murdered their officers and took their ship into

2052-402: The realm by statute and without it by the prerogative of the crown; and (3) from 1803 to 1879, it was governed either directly by statute or by the sovereign under an authority derived from and defined and limited by statute. Although in 1879 the power of making Articles of War became in effect inoperative, the sovereign was empowered to make rules of procedure, having the force of law, to regulate

2106-453: The regular English sailors and losing more and more ships as the mutiny progressed. This gave rise to a fear in the Admiralty that ships still at sea might be taken to France, but that was generally unfounded. When word of the mutiny reached the squadron under Sir John Borlase Warren , cruising off Ushant, the crew of HMS Galatea seized her, confining her captain, Richard Goodwin Keats , but

2160-519: The reprisals that followed, 29 were hanged, 29 were imprisoned, and nine were flogged , while others were sentenced to transportation to Australia. One such was surgeon's mate William Redfern who became a respected surgeon and landowner in New South Wales. The majority of men involved in the mutiny were not punished at all, which was lenient by the standards of the time. After the Nore mutiny, Royal Navy vessels no longer rang five bells in

2214-423: The ringleaders were punished, much was done by the Admiralty to improve pay and conditions for the seamen. In 1804, Jonathan Martin , would-be York Minster arsonist, was stationed aboard the 74-gun HMS  Hercule here. From 1899 to 1955, the Royal Navy maintained a Commander-in-Chief, The Nore , a senior officer responsible for protecting the entrance to the port of London , and merchant traffic along

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2268-402: The same time. The Mutiny Act had been brought into force on each occasion for one year only, in compliance with the constitutional theory: that the maintenance of a standing army in time of peace, unless with the consent of parliament, is against law. Each session therefore the text of the act had to be passed through both Houses clause by clause and line by line. The Army Act, on the other hand,

2322-504: The situation calmed, Admiral Lord Howe intervened to negotiate an agreement that issued a royal pardon for all crews, reassignment of some of the unpopular officers, and a pay raise and abolition of the purser's pound. Afterwards, the mutiny was to become nicknamed the "breeze at Spithead". Inspired by the example of their comrades at Spithead, the sailors at the Nore , an anchorage in the Thames Estuary , also mutinied, on 12 May 1797, when

2376-413: The task. In 1879, a measure was passed into law consolidating in one act both the Mutiny Act and the Articles of War, and amending their provisions in certain important respects. This measure was called the Army Discipline and Regulation Act 1879. After one or two years of experience highlighted the need for improvement, it was superseded by the Army Act 1881, which formed the foundation and main portion of

2430-551: The whole squadron nonetheless followed orders to return to Plymouth. There was seemingly no thought of treason – the men just wanted improvements in their conditions. When they returned to shore Keats was released and once prize money was secured and other matters of pay were settled, they returned to their station. Although the port of Brest was unwatched for some weeks the French missed the opportunity to get to sea. On 5 June, Parker issued an order that merchant ships be allowed to pass

2484-480: The world's first lightship . This became a major landmark, and was used as an assembly point for shipping. Today it is marked by the Sea Reach No. 1 Buoys. The Nore is an anchorage , or open roadstead , used by the Royal Navy 's North Sea Fleet, and to its local Command. It was the site of a notorious mutiny in 1797 . The Great Nore is the cul-de-sac deep channel to the south of the Nore which opens out to

2538-586: The world, resulting in the killing of one mutineer, the execution of another, and the marooning of others; on Henry Hudson 's Discovery , resulting in Hudson and others being set adrift in a boat; and the famous mutiny on the Bounty . Those convicted of mutiny often faced capital punishment . Until 1689, mutiny was regulated in England by Articles of War instituted by the monarch and effective only in

2592-540: Was Irish and a republican has been disputed, and while that "rebellious paper, the Northern Star " (from Belfast) may have circulated as reported among the mutineers, no evidence has emerged of a concerted United Irish plot to subvert the fleet. In Ireland there was talk of seizing British warships as part of a general insurrection, but it was only after the Spithead and Nore mutinies that United Irishmen awoke to "surprising effectiveness" of formulating sedition within

2646-467: Was a more radical action, articulating political ideals as well, which failed. The mutinies were extremely concerning for Britain , because at the time the country was at war with Revolutionary France , and the Navy was the main component of the war effort. There were also concerns among the government that the mutinies might be part of wider attempts at revolutionary sedition instigated by societies such as

2700-664: Was elected "President of the Delegates of the Fleet". According to him, he was nominated and elected without his knowledge. Parker was a former master's mate who was disrated and court-martialled in December 1793 and re-enlisted in the Navy as a seaman in early 1797, where he came to serve aboard the brig-sloop Hound . A list of eight demands was formulated and on 20 May 1797, and presented to Admiral Charles Buckner , which mainly involved pardons, increased pay, and modification of

2754-660: Was not required by the European Convention on Human Rights , since Protocol 6 of the Convention permitted the death penalty in time of war, and Protocol 13, which prohibits the death penalty for all circumstances, did not then exist. The government introduced section 21(5) as a late amendment in response to parliamentary pressure. The United States ' Uniform Code of Military Justice defines mutiny thus: U.S. military law requires obedience only to lawful orders. Disobedience to unlawful orders (see Superior orders )

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2808-465: Was slow to understand their effects on its crews. Impressment (a common practice) meant that some of the seamen were onboard ship against their will. Finally, the new wartime quota system meant that crews had many landsmen from inshore (including some convicted criminals sent in lieu of punishment) who did not mix well with the career seamen, leading to discontented ships' companies. The mutineers were led by elected delegates and tried to negotiate with

2862-496: Was the maximum punishment, as well as with many matters relating to trial and procedure. The act and the articles were found not to harmonize in all respects. Their general arrangement was faulty, and their language sometimes obscure. In 1869, a royal commission recommended that both should be recast in a simple and intelligible shape. In 1878, a committee of the House of Commons endorsed this view and made recommendations for performing

2916-412: Was there for a refit, persuaded his crew to return to duty and slipped off to Sheerness . This was seen as a signal to others to do likewise, and eventually, most ships slipped their anchors and deserted (some under fire from the mutineers), and the mutiny failed. Parker was quickly convicted of treason and piracy and hanged from the yardarm of Sandwich , the vessel where the mutiny had started. In

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