Royal Navy mutiny of 1919
Date | 10 October and 21 November 1919 |
---|---|
Location | United Kingdom |
Participants | Sailors of the British Royal Navy |
Outcome | 96 offenders had been arrested and punished, ten by imprisonment |
The Royal Navy mutiny of 1919 was a peaceful mutiny of several dozen sailors protesting against their deployment to the
Background
The
Mutiny
When the men of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla found that they were going to be sent to the Baltic to take part in operations against the Russians, discussions took place about what options they had. The government had publicly pledged that only volunteers would be sent to take part in operations against the Russians. Yet here they appeared to violate that pledge when destroyers HMS Velox, HMS Versatile and HMS Wryneck were ordered to the Baltic.[7] On 12 October 1919, a code phrase, "My name's Walker" was sent through the fleet signalling the start of the mutiny and 150 sailors left their posts preventing the 1st Destroyer Flotilla from leaving Port Edgar, Scotland. Almost 50 men then marched to London to present their petitions at the British government in Whitehall.[7] Of all who left their ships 96 offenders were arrested and punished, ten by imprisonment.[1]
Significant unrest took place among British sailors in the Baltic. This included small-scale mutinies amongst the crews of HMS Vindictive, Delhi—the latter due in part to the behaviour of Admiral Cowan—and other ships stationed in Björkö Sound. The causes were a general war-weariness (many of the crews had fought in World War I), poor food and accommodation, a lack of leave and a developing sense of class consciousness.[8]
Bibliography
Notes
- ^ a b Collingridge 2008.
- ^ Langworth 2019.
- ^ Kinvig 2006, pp. 271–90.
- ^ Cliff 1979, p. 97.
- ^ Carew 1981, p. 212.
- ^ Sewell 2018.
- ^ a b Carew 1981, p. 112.
- ^ Kinvig 2006.
References
- Carew, Anthony (1981). The Lower Deck of the Royal Navy 1900-39: The Invergordon Mutiny in Perspective. ISBN 9780719008412.
- ISBN 9780861040230.
- Collingridge, Vanessa (8 April 2008). "The Murmansk Mutiny". BBC. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
- ISBN 9781852854775. - Total pages: 373
- Langworth, Richard M. (2019). "Churchill and the Baltic, Part I: 1918-1931". International Churchill Society. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
- Sewell, Rob (2018). Germany: From Revolution to Counter-Revolution. Wellred Books. ISBN 9781900007788.