The Great Mutinies

Mutinies were not unheard of in the Royal Navy, but the two mutinies at Spithead and the Nore are arguably the most famous. Both were collective resistance to the Navy's authority aboard the assembled ships at each anchorage but there were distinct differences between them, as well as very different reactions to each mutiny.

In the months before the mutinies, discontented seamen addressed many letters and petitions to the Lords of the Admiralty, expressing their unhappiness with cruel and tyrannical officers, their low rate of pay, and the infrequency in which they were allowed ashore, and asking for relief from the Admiralty. These calls for help were ignored and the sailors, understandably, felt that they could rely on no one but themselves.They began exchanging letters between ships, discussing their situation and ways to remedy it. Outright rebellion was not initially the goal but time and continued silence from both the Admiralty and Lord Howe, to whom several petitions were addressed, left them feeling that there was no other way.

Spithead
The mutiny at Spithead began on the 16th of April, 1797. Orders had been given by Lord Bridport to Admiral Gardner's squadron, directing it to weigh anchor. Not a single ship obeyed. Instead, the crew of Royal Sovereign manned the shrouds and gave three great cheers. The sailors of the Channel Fleet had taken matters into their own hands. From the start, the fleet was clear in its demands, as well as its intention to sail immediately if news came that the French, at the time kept in port at Brest by blockade, had managed to escape.

To his credit, Bridport tried to calm the situation by negotation, but the men were not to be moved. Only the government could satisfy their wishes. Two delegates from each ship met aboard the Queen Charlotte to decide their stance and actions. Discipline aboard the ships in mutiny was to go on much as before, which was a wise approach to take. Good order was important to the success of their cause. No ships were to make any movement to go to sea either. Officers were permitted to remain on board their ships for that first night but within a day the most unpopular officers were packed off ashore.

The committee of seamen-delegates, interestingly enough, also decided that only the ships of the line would be firmly part of the mutiny. Frigates and unrated vessels were ordered to carry on their duties. This meant that two ships which were to escort a convoy to Newfoundland were directed by the committee to do so, and eventually did.

The game then became one of waiting and written negotiation with the government. It was hardly an affair to be swiftly resolved but the seamen-delegates knew what they wanted and would not budge from their stance. Their demands were reasonable enough. They wanted an increase in their pay, which had not changed since reign of Charles the Second. They wanted to have fresh meat and vegetables whenever ships were in port. They wanted their provisions to be the prescribed quantity and of a better quality. They wanted better treatment for the sick aboard ship. They wanted the chance to go on liberty ashore when their ships were in port. They also wanted wounded men to continue to be paid, which was a concession granted early on.

Agreement by the Board of Admiralty, which had gone to Portsmouth, to the question of pay was agreeable to the various crews but nothing was done about the other demands. More than that, the committee declared that they would only accept the King's pardon once their wishes were agreed to. The good behaviour and discipline of the fleet, even being in a state of mutiny, helped earn them the sympathy and support of the country. They were not violent or unreasonable and public opinion was largely in their favour.

An increase in pay and improvement in provisions was agreed to and a pardon signed by the King himself obtained, which was cause for celebration in many of the mutinying ships. Part of the fleet sailed a few miles from Spithead to St Helens, to wait for a favourable wind to go to sea, but this did not come for some time. In the interim, delay on the part of the government in putting the agreed-to demand into effect made the men suspicious of trickery. They were mistrustful of the government but for the moment did nothing to disrupt the order of things.

Their cause was dubiously aided by the rising in mutiny of the squadron commanded by Sir Roger Curtis. As the Spithead men had done, the squadron, based in Plymouth, behaved themselves well and to ensure unity, sent their own delegation up to Portsmouth. Most of these delegates came away satisfied with the state of things. Two, having visited several of the ships at St Helens, returned to Plymouth having been duly chastened by the crew of Royal George for leaving their ships and directed to go back at once.