A Hanging Offense


Book Description

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.




American Honor


Book Description

Admiral Charles Stewarts had eleven sea commands during his sixty-three years as an officer in the United States Navy serving fifteen Presidents. Admiral Charles Stewart commanded and sailed most every type of war vessel from sloops to ship-of-the-line war vessels in the nineteenth century. His skills on the seas were demonstrated in his success in many major combat actions with enemy war vessels. Charles Stewart was a statesmen, diplomat, teacher, scholar, and perhaps most important, a man of truth and honor. Charles was the first officer in the United States Navy to bear the title Admiral. Admiral Charles Stewart fought in the Barbary wars, the War of 1812, the final battle with the Muslim pirates in 1815, as commander-in-chief in the defense of the Pacific (1821) in the breakup of the Spanish held colonies, and the protection of trade in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. He married Delia Tudor in 1813 and they had a son and daughter. The marriage did not last. Stewarts true love was Margaret Smith and they had a son. There was talk about running Charles Stewart for President of the United States beginning in 1840. Admiral Charles Stewart served as a pallbearer on the funeral train of President Lincoln in 1862. United States Navy destroyers and destroyer escorts named after Senior Commodore Charles Stewart. Destroyers were named after distinguished USN/USMC officers and enlisted men such as Charles Stewart. (DD, (Destroyers)-216, DD-291, and DE, (Destroyer Escort)-DE-238 and DE-224 carried Stewarts name.




Blood Spilled for Freedom


Book Description

Governments around the world were realizing the disproportionate advantages Great Britain were taking by imposing trade restriction on the American colonies. These restrictions were also affecting their economies in a negative way. British have made it known they want a piece of us. Our defiance of their demands to pay portions of our profit to them had the British Royal Navy looking for us. We will be at war with England in the near future but not until our spineless Congress arms a Navy, as per the Constitution we adopted, to be governed by and following the language of the Constitution. Captain Thomas Williams was exercising his Economic independence but other than his efforts, free trade did not exist in the United States. Captain Williams did not recognize Great Britain as having any rights of legislation over America. America cannot be just a service economy with an expanding government subservient to the British. We need to allow the development of new small businesses that can succeed and employ those who need to work. We can only achieve this by removing all the mountains of British rules and regulations that have been killing entrepreneurs off. Government must allow the economy to grow; not create more Socialism. I want to put a stop to this American. What is his name and what is his vessel? Sir, the name of the American vessel is Tossea and the name if the ships captain is Thomas Williams. Blood Spilled for Freedom by Gar Olson Historical Fiction: The factious story of Captain Thomas Williams (1776-1815) is fun, informative, emotional, and adventurous.




Proceedings of the Court of Inquiry Appointed to Inquire Into the Intended Mutiny on Board the United States Brig. of War Somers, on the High Seas


Book Description

Excerpt from Proceedings of the Court of Inquiry Appointed to Inquire Into the Intended Mutiny on Board the United States Brig. of War Somers, on the High Seas: Held on Board the United States Ship North Carolina Lying at the Navy Yard, New-York; With a Full Account of the Execution of Spencer, Cromwell and Small, on Board Said Vessel The second member, Commodore A. J. Dal courteous Captain francis H. Gregory, Corn las, commander of the Pensacola Navy Yard, and mander Wetrnore, Lieutenants Hunt, Gibson, Gray attending the session of this Court under special and Ward, Acting Sailing Master, Passed Mid orders from the Navy Department. Shipman Eld, Purser Macaulay, the Chaplain. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.




Proceedings of the Court of Inquiry Appointed to Inquire Into the Intended Mutiny On Board the United States Brig of War Somers, On the High Seas


Book Description

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Book Notes


Book Description

Consisting of literary gossip, criticisms of books and local historical matters connected with Rhode Island.













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