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
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)