A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship SomersSimon and Schuster, 1 Νοε 2007 - 320 σελίδες Mutiny on the Bounty is one of history's greatest naval stories—yet few know the similar tale from America's own fledgling navy in the dying days of the Age of Sail, a tale of mutiny and death at sea on an American warship. In 1842, the brig-of-war Somers set out on a training cruise for apprentice seamen, commanded by rising star Alexander Mackenzie. Somers was crammed with teenagers. Among them was Acting Midshipman Philip Spencer, a disturbed youth and a son of the U.S. Secretary of War. Buying other crew members' loyalty with pilfered tobacco and alcohol, Spencer dreamed up a scheme to kill the officers and turn Somers into a pirate ship. In the isolated world of a warship, a single man can threaten the crew's discipline and the captain's authority. But one of Spencer's followers warned Mackenzie, who arrested the midshipman and chained him and other ringleaders to the quarterdeck. Fearing efforts to rescue the prisoners, officers had to stay awake in round-the-clock watches. Steering desperately for land, sleep-deprived and armed to the teeth, battling efforts to liberate Spencer, Somers's captain and officers finally faced a fateful choice: somehow keep control of the vessel until reaching port—still hundreds of miles away—or hang the midshipman and his two leading henchmen before the boys could take over the ship. The results shook the nation. A naval investigation of the affair turned into a court-martial and a state trial and led to the founding of the Naval Academy to provide better officers for the still-young republic. Mackenzie's controversial decision may have inspired Herman Melville's great work Billy Budd. The story of Somers raises timeless questions still disturbing in twenty-first-century America: the relationship between civil and military law, the hazy line between peace and war, the battle between individual rights and national security, and the ultimate challenge of command at sea. |
Αναζήτηση στο βιβλίο
Αποτελέσματα 1 - 5 από τα 75.
Σελίδα 3
... first the battleship would have to catch her , and that could never happen . With the press of sail that she could carry on those tall masts of hers , she was one of the fastest things afloat . She was first cousin to a Baltimore ...
... first the battleship would have to catch her , and that could never happen . With the press of sail that she could carry on those tall masts of hers , she was one of the fastest things afloat . She was first cousin to a Baltimore ...
Σελίδα 4
... first used vessels of her sort . She had piracy in her bloodlines . But it was a domesticated piracy . She was on the side of the angels . She was designed to take on the slave ships and the corsairs , and to beat them at their own game ...
... first used vessels of her sort . She had piracy in her bloodlines . But it was a domesticated piracy . She was on the side of the angels . She was designed to take on the slave ships and the corsairs , and to beat them at their own game ...
Σελίδα 6
... first to reach out into its waters , although they began their lessons on the Nile . The currents of Egypt's river ran against the prevailing wind , so that air and water were always at battle , so maybe this was the place where humans ...
... first to reach out into its waters , although they began their lessons on the Nile . The currents of Egypt's river ran against the prevailing wind , so that air and water were always at battle , so maybe this was the place where humans ...
Σελίδα 12
... first took to the sea in a serious way , and before long it was nearly complete . By 1600 , oars , though still around , were passé . Thus did navies finally embrace the power of sail . Now that warships relied on the wind , both ...
... first took to the sea in a serious way , and before long it was nearly complete . By 1600 , oars , though still around , were passé . Thus did navies finally embrace the power of sail . Now that warships relied on the wind , both ...
Σελίδα 13
... first the arrangement was primi- tive , but each passing year saw greater efficiency , and brought more experience . Before long steam moved from rivers to oceans , first in the service of merchants , and then , slowly , into naval ...
... first the arrangement was primi- tive , but each passing year saw greater efficiency , and brought more experience . Before long steam moved from rivers to oceans , first in the service of merchants , and then , slowly , into naval ...
Άλλες εκδόσεις - Προβολή όλων
A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers Buckner Melton Περιορισμένη προεπισκόπηση - 2007 |
A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers Buckner F. Melton Προβολή αποσπασμάτων - 2003 |
A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers Buckner F. Melton Προβολή αποσπασμάτων - 2003 |
Συχνά εμφανιζόμενοι όροι και φράσεις
aboard Somers acting midshipman Alexander Slidell Alexander Slidell Mackenzie American Annapolis answer apprentices asked began berth deck bo'sun's mate boys brig called Commander Mackenzie Commodore Court Martial Court of Inquiry court-martial Craney crew Cromwell and Small cruise danger Duer Elisha Small fo'c'sle Gansevoort Garty gave guns hanging happened heard Heiskill Herman Melville Hoffman Ibid James Fenimore Cooper John Canfield Spencer judge advocate knew lawyer least lieutenant Macken Mackenzie's maritime McKinley Melville midshipman mutiny Naval Institute Press Navy Yard nearly never Neville night Norris officers orders Perry Philip Hone Philip Spencer pirate prisoners quarterdeck question rigging Rogers sail sailors Samuel Cromwell seamen seemed sevoort ship ship's Somers's spar deck Spencer and Cromwell Spencer's arrest story talking tell things told took topgallant mast United States Navy Upshur vessel Wales wanted wardroom warship watch Wilson wind witnesses York young
Αναφορές για αυτό το βιβλίο
Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery : the U.S. Exploring Expedition ... Nathaniel Philbrick Δεν υπάρχει διαθέσιμη προεπισκόπηση - 2003 |
Adventures of a Sea Hunter: In Search of Famous Shipwrecks James Delgado Περιορισμένη προεπισκόπηση - 2009 |