conviction_status death_date death_place birth_place image_size conviction_penalty charge image_caption birth_date article_title name occupation image_name
deceased 01 december 1842 asea , aboard uss '' somers '' unknown 200px death by hanging plan to mutiny uss from yardarm '' somers '' , 1842 lithograph men hanging unknown samuel cromwell
 samuel cromwell boatswain 's mate -lrb- united states navy -rrb- somers - nara - 512981 . tif , starboard side , under sail , 1842
samuel cromwell

samuel cromwell -lrb- died december 1 , 1842 -rrb- was a sailor and petty officer -lcb- boatswain 's mate -rcb- aboard the brig uss `` somers '' .
cromwell was feared by the young apprentices who made up the majority of the ship 's crew , and was rumored to have served on a slaver at one time .
these rumors lent credence to the idea that he would have been amenable to philip spencer 's alleged plot to mutiny , kill the ship 's officers and such of the crewmembers as were not wanted , and sail the `` somers '' either as a pirate ship or a slaver .
on the homeward leg of a voyage to liberia , cromwell was put in irons a few days after philip spencer and elisha small , another sailor rumored to have been part of a slave ship 's crew .
after a meeting of the officers concluded that a mutinous plot existed , all three men were hanged without a court-martial .
