The 18th century British navy is synonymous with harsh discipline, floggings and whatnot. Do you know how much of that would have applied to an officer?
If you don't know about the navy but can speak to the army instead, I'll take it.
Pretty sure corporal punishment would not have applied to officers! That is, the punishments were class-based, and to flog a gentleman would be to demean him. But he could be court-martialed and lose his commission, or executed.
But I'll link two fannish friends here who know a lot more about the Navy than I do, and they can give you more detail. Much of my knowledge of the British navy comes second-hand from historical fiction.
(Re-posting comment so it ends up in the right thread.)
Tagged in by luzula! Not an expert in this, but my understanding:
Midshipmen, being boys, could be caned, but it was unseemly for commissioned officers to endure corporal punishment. Commissioned officers were subject to capital punishment -- c.f. Admiral Byng or any of the various Articles of War directed at officers. But generally speaking, non-corporal alternatives were sought for lesser crimes.
Which isn't to say that officers were inherently safe from physical punishment: Cochrane was sentenced to an hour in the pillory -- but notably, 1) not for Naval crimes, and 2) he was dismissed from the Navy over it. So there's still this association that Naval officers are not subject to corporal punishments -- and if they are, they don't get to be officers anymore.
Yeah, like the others said, neither warrant nor commissioned officers were subject to flogging, as far as I know.
Though the infamous Captain Pigot was said to have flogged both his midshipmen and his boatswain (a boatswain being a warrant officer) but that was considered very shocking and unusual.
Midshipmen could be caned, though. (I have this vague memory that this was traditionally done by the gunner's wife, but I may have picked that up from fiction instead of more reliable sources ;D )
Instead, officers could be demoted, lose seniority, or be dismissed from the Navy altogether.
Another difference between officers and men: if officers did get sentenced to death, I believe they were shot and not hanged, unlike the men.
Regarding discipline in the 18th century Navy in general, I recently read a statistical analysis of lots of ship's log books that found that (1) 10% of captains didn't flog at all and (2) discipline became a lot more brutal (harsher and more frequent) towards the end of the 18th century, probably because of the general sentiment of fear of rebellion, sedition, etc. among officers following the French revolution and the generally unsettled political climate in Britain.
Hi, thank you so much for the added detail! This is all so great. I'm trying to write a biography of an 18th century Prussian who briefly joined the British navy as an officer, and I don't want to say anything wrong.
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timeasmymeasure
Question for luzula
Date: 2025-06-24 02:32 pm (UTC)If you don't know about the navy but can speak to the army instead, I'll take it.
Re: Question for luzula
Date: 2025-06-24 08:14 pm (UTC)But I'll link two fannish friends here who know a lot more about the Navy than I do, and they can give you more detail. Much of my knowledge of the British navy comes second-hand from historical fiction.
(Re-posting comment so it ends up in the right thread.)
Re: Question for luzula
Date: 2025-06-24 08:26 pm (UTC)Re: Question for luzula
Date: 2025-06-24 08:55 pm (UTC)Midshipmen, being boys, could be caned, but it was unseemly for commissioned officers to endure corporal punishment. Commissioned officers were subject to capital punishment -- c.f. Admiral Byng or any of the various Articles of War directed at officers. But generally speaking, non-corporal alternatives were sought for lesser crimes.
Which isn't to say that officers were inherently safe from physical punishment: Cochrane was sentenced to an hour in the pillory -- but notably, 1) not for Naval crimes, and 2) he was dismissed from the Navy over it. So there's still this association that Naval officers are not subject to corporal punishments -- and if they are, they don't get to be officers anymore.
Re: Question for luzula
Date: 2025-06-24 09:00 pm (UTC)Re: Question for luzula
Date: 2025-06-24 10:21 pm (UTC)Yeah, like the others said, neither warrant nor commissioned officers were subject to flogging, as far as I know.
Though the infamous Captain Pigot was said to have flogged both his midshipmen and his boatswain (a boatswain being a warrant officer) but that was considered very shocking and unusual.
Midshipmen could be caned, though. (I have this vague memory that this was traditionally done by the gunner's wife, but I may have picked that up from fiction instead of more reliable sources ;D )
Instead, officers could be demoted, lose seniority, or be dismissed from the Navy altogether.
Another difference between officers and men: if officers did get sentenced to death, I believe they were shot and not hanged, unlike the men.
Regarding discipline in the 18th century Navy in general, I recently read a statistical analysis of lots of ship's log books that found that (1) 10% of captains didn't flog at all and (2) discipline became a lot more brutal (harsher and more frequent) towards the end of the 18th century, probably because of the general sentiment of fear of rebellion, sedition, etc. among officers following the French revolution and the generally unsettled political climate in Britain.
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luzula!)
Re: Question for luzula
Date: 2025-06-25 08:07 am (UTC)