The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-03-02
BRITISH JACK TARS.
FAMOUS MuTlNlES IN WHICH THEY
HAVE FIGURED.

HlnHIPauefB-h EeAFiul HlOk luSs
For reasons which will at once suggest
themselves TO every intelligent reader mu
TIMES in the navy have almost invariably
been more serious and determined affairs
than similar outbreaks happening in the
sister service.
Almost everybody has heard of the mu-
tiny at the More, which blocked up the
trade of The Thames from May ~ until
June 49, 1877, and left practically the
whole Of o,r southern seaboard to the
mercy of an alien foe This was undoubt-
elly the most serious outbreak that has
ever taken place in our own, or, for that
matter, in any other navy. The mutineers
seized their officers, trained the forward
guns aft, hoisted the red flag on the ad-
miral's ship, double shottcd the broadside
cannons and told OF men with lighted
matches at every portfolio. At the same
time, however, discipline was strictly en-
forced.
Eventually of course, the mutny was
suppressed, and the ringleader, Parker,
suffered death by hanging with - of his
companions. No one can, of course, offer
any excuse for the violent conduct of those
misguided men. Nevertheless it is impoS
siblc to deny that they had II genuine
grievance; that repeated petitions for re-
dress had been conte,nptuOusly ignored,
and that from the date Of their execution
the status and treatment of Jack Tar I'M
derwcnt marked change for the better.
In 1901 the mutiny of the Bantry bay
squadron gave rise to the widest appre
hcnsion. The Temorairc led the outbreak,
n,,ln.. hail dawn nJ,1l
were complied with to ire the ship and
murder their officers Other vessels Joined
in, notably the Formidable, Majestic and
Vengeance. Luckily the marines remain
ed loyal, and by them chiefly tho mutiny
was suppressed. Eleven men only were
executed for this affair, but the fioggings
inflicted on the remainder We're in most
cases Of such shocking severity that one
would have Thought death itself would
have been far preferable,
Perhaps the best known and most dra
matte OF single ship mut!nies were those
which broke ont on the Bounty In l7SO
and in the Danae frigate in 1900. The
facts connected with the first named Incl
dent are almost too well known to bear
repetition Suffice it to say that the men,
driven to madness by Il harsh and !yran-
niCal commander, Aut jnluu near Tahiti in
tic southern l'acitl" ocean, set the officers
adrift in an open boat and carried tho
ship to Pitcairn island, u lonely, unin.
habited spot lying about midway be-
tween Australia and south America.
Here their descendants remain until this
very day.
The nutiny Ct the Danac's crew took
;1lnpD pnrl,r in March riSipu in
response to previously concerted signal
and numbering their officers, after which
the crew sailed the fri ,!atc into Brcst har-
Dor and handed her over to the French
authorities. 1t il some satisfaction to
know that Ave of the mutineers were tax
en- prisoners while fighting against I'd
soon afterwGrd ard promptly hanged.
A precisely similar attempt WAS made
in the same year TO seize the Herlnionr,
with the a,Owe,l intention of handing her
also over 10 France Happily tho sehcrnc
was frustrated, but The commander OF The
ship, one Pigot, was brntally murdered
lie dcscendcd into the 70 castle to reason
with the indictments and was set upon
and literally hacked to pieces, the fHag
Inents of the carcass being afterwail
thrust through one Of the portfolios. For
participation in this diabolical crime two
men, named respectively James Allen and
John Watson, We're afterward hanged at
Portsmouth.
The rising on board the London in
May, 1897, was really sequel to tho
bloodless mutiny which broke out at spit
head earlier in the same year. The Lon
don was Admiral Colpoys' flagship and
was being approached by boat in which
were some unnrlned men from the other
ships Of the fleet bearing u petition. The
admiral forbade them to approach, and
on their persisting he ordered guard Of
marines TO fire upon them. The vOlloying
of tho muskets was signal for an immo
diatp uprising on the part OF the London
crew. The marines were ovcrpowolrd and
disarmed, Colpoys was seized and roughly
handled, and the other officers were sent
on shore.
In this case, as in most others the red
coats remained loyal 1t was therefore all
the moro alarming when "A serious mutiny
was discovered, II little later on, to have
been Matched among the marines OF tho
Plymouth squadron. Luckily on the
morning Of the very day the plot was to
have been put into execution one of tho
mutineers turned traitor, with the result
that the authorities were on their guard
and the rising was suppressed almost ere
it had begun.
The following morning at daybreak
| three Of tho rinsleaders--Lcs Cotfy and
. BrauIing-were shot. Another u youth
| Of Is named McGlrn!s, received the afro.
| ciouS sentence OF 1000 lashes with cat o
nine tails, the punishment to DO inflicted
| in two iustallmcnts OF 800 lashes each cats
to DO "p!cked and four to be counted
| slowly after each stroke.
1t is seldom that one hears Of naval
muliny in which the signal for revolt has
come not from the men, but from the
! officers Yet something very like this hap
penrd IN August, l702, when stanCh old
Admiral Brnhow put out from Jamaica
| to fight the French fleet under Du Cusse.
| The British squadron consisted Of seven
ships Of from 30 to 20 guns and Benbow
| felt sure Of victory until he observed with
| diSlnay that five Of his captains were de
! liberatcly disobrying his orders They, in
| fact declined to clap on sail, and were
soon hull down on the horizon. Never.
thcless Rrnhow attacked with his own
! ship and tic Little Ruby, but he had to
| retire in the end, with more than half his
| men hors de- combat and he himself NOR,
| tnlly wounded by a chain shot which had
shattered his right leg.
The last scene of this strange and tragic
| cpsodc--so crpdltable to Brnbow, 81 dis,
! graceful to most Of the Others concerned
took place on the quarter deck Of his maj
csty, ship Bristol in plymouth sound,
in tho carly morning Of April IT, 1908,