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. |
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Σελίδα 7
... order to catch their prey , so they usually relied on oar power . Oars are much more expen- sive to run than sails , for they need lots of men , and those men need food and fresh water . An oar - propelled ship tends to be longer and ...
... order to catch their prey , so they usually relied on oar power . Oars are much more expen- sive to run than sails , for they need lots of men , and those men need food and fresh water . An oar - propelled ship tends to be longer and ...
Σελίδα 16
... orders in a howling gale that he won the nickname " Old Bruin " before he turned thirty . But he had other traits , too : an understanding of tactics and strategy much deeper than that of most of his fellow officers , a deeply religious ...
... orders in a howling gale that he won the nickname " Old Bruin " before he turned thirty . But he had other traits , too : an understanding of tactics and strategy much deeper than that of most of his fellow officers , a deeply religious ...
Σελίδα 17
... did things that way . They were so good at making decisions , bawling out orders from their quarterdecks , and watching their crews leap to obey them , that they tended to behave the same way whenever they stepped ashore Somers 17.
... did things that way . They were so good at making decisions , bawling out orders from their quarterdecks , and watching their crews leap to obey them , that they tended to behave the same way whenever they stepped ashore Somers 17.
Σελίδα 27
... Order . That would make him some money , and it would show the Masons that they shouldn't have messed with him . People had already beaten him to it . Books like the one that he wanted to write were already available in England and the ...
... Order . That would make him some money , and it would show the Masons that they shouldn't have messed with him . People had already beaten him to it . Books like the one that he wanted to write were already available in England and the ...
Σελίδα 31
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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
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