The Washington herald., 1911-01-01
.nUTINY A THING
UNKNOWN IN THE
AMERICAN NAVY

Auttny Is the dread crime OF the hlgf
seas. II is worse than murder; 1t is Al
bad ss treason. The navy of Brazil ha.
covered itself with shame and disgrac!
which only the years can efface. In
every forecastie and wardroom on al
the ships on all the seas the revolt In
Rio harbor is being talked about, ant
will be talked about long after shore
going folks have forgotten it.
There is only one precedent in naval
history for the manner of settlement OF
the Brazilian mutiny. The great English
naval mutiny at Spithead in 1877 was set.
tied by granting the demands Of the sea
ished. The immediate consequence OF
this was the mutiny at the More. involv-
ing almost a score of English ships-of-
war, and which shook the government
and people Of England as nothing else
had In a long time. The Spithead mutiny
and the recent Brazilian revolt are the
only two known mutinies involving more
than one ship-of-war which have been
settled on the basis Of an industrial
strike
The events in Rio harbor give naval
officers and all seafaring men clearer
knowledge Of the state Of efficiency ano
the real quality of the Brazilian navy
than any number of years OF observation
and study of naval annals. Seamen Will
hold that the only ones who came out OF
the Brazilian affair with any honor were
the lucky officers who were killed wher
the mutiny began.
There never has been fleet mutiny or
q squadron mutiny in the United States
navy. The most notorious case in the
naval history of this country was the
conspiracy to mutiny on the brig-of-war
Somers, which was discovered before 1t
came to a head. and resulted in the exc
cution at sea of Philip Spencer. mid
ehipman son of the then Secretary OF
War. and one petty officer and one sea-
man. The mutiny on the British ship-of-
war Bounty is one of the famous mutin-
les of the world
When Commodore Porter was in COM
cand of the Essex in the early history OF
our navy there was an attempted mutiny
on board. Here is an account Of how 1t
was suppressed which is vouched for as
authentic:
while the Essex was lying at the
MarqueSas Islands, recruiting and re-
freshening her crew from one of the long
and arduous cruises in the Pacific. Com
modore Porter was informed. through a
servant of one of the officers, that a mu-
tiny had been planned and was on the
eve- of conSummation: that it was the
intention of the mutineers to rise upon
the officers, take possession of the ship,
and, after having remained as long as
they found agreeable at the island. to
hoist the black flag and cruise on their
own account
Ordered the Crew Aft.
Having satisfied himself of the truth
of the information, Commodore Porter
ascended to the quarterback and ordered
all the crew to be summoned aft. Wait
ing until the last man had come from be-
how, he informed them that he under
stood that mutiny was on foot, and
that he had summoned them for the pur-
pose of inquiring into its truth.
1.-The commodore looked at him a mo-
ment, then, SeiZing a cutlaSs from the
nearest rack, said in a suppressed voice,
but in tones so deep that they rang like
among the crew, VILLAIN! you are the
ringleader of this mutiny, Jump over
board,' The man dropped on his knees.
implorinS for mercy. saying that he
could not swim. Then drown. you scoun-
drel,' said the commodore, Springing to-
ward him to cut him down. Overheard,
Instantly And the man jumped over
the side of the ship. He then turned to
the trembling crew and addressed them
with much feeling, the tears standing
upon his bronzed cheek as he spoke. He
asked them what he had done that his
ship should be diSgraced by a mutiny.
He asked whether he had ever dis
honored the flag: whether he had ever
treated them with other than kindness;
whether they had ever been wanting for
anything to their comfort that discipline
and the rules of the service would allow
and which il was in his power to give.
AT the close of his address he said:
Men, before l came on deck / laid a
train to the magazine. and l would have
blown all on board into eternity before
my ship should have been disgraced by a
successful mutinyI / never would have
survived the dishonor of my ship! Go to
your duty The men were much affected
by the commodore's address, and imme-
diately returned to their duty, showing
every sign of contrition.
Tie Hermione, a frigate of the British
navy, was cruising on the evening of the
lst of September. 1871, off the west end
IF Porto Rico. Her commander, Capt
Pigott, was a rough officer. Some of the
men were reefing the topsails, when he
called out that he would fog the last
man off the mizzentopsail yard. They
sailors knew that this was not an empty
threat. Each resolved to escape the
threatened punishment, and two of them,
who, from their position outside, could
not reach the rigging, made a spring to
get over their comrades. They missed
their hold, fell on the quarterback, and
were killed. This being represented to
the captain, he is said to have made an
Bwer: Throw the lubbers overheard"
In little more than twenty-four hours
after this event the mutiny broke out.
Double-headed shot were thrown about
the ship and other disorderly acts COM
mitted. The first lieutenant went below
to inquire into the cause of the disturb
lnce. He was knocked down with
tomahawk, his throat cut. and his body
thrown overheard. The captain had al
ready retired to sleep, unconscious of
danger. His fate is given in the words
Of a witness in court:
Hearing noise upon deck, he imme-
liately ran out of his cabin. when, being
badly and repeatedly wounded. he was at
length Obliged to return. He had reached
his cabin and was sitting on a couch,
faint with the loss of blood, when four
men entered with bayonets fixed. Craw-
ley headed them. Capt. Piggott, weak as
b., was, held out his dirk and kept them
Oh.
They seemed for a moment appalled,
by the sight of their commander, when
Crawley exclaimed. What, four against
sne and yet afraid? Here goes, them
and buried his bayonet in the body of
Capt. Piggott He was followed by the
others. who with their bayonets thrust
him through the port, and he was heard
10 speak as he went astern.