S0648

Cat o'nine tails Long Caption: The infamous 'Cat' (whip) was used to flog unruly convicts on board the prison hulks. It was also a key factor in Royal Naval discipline in the 18th and most of the 19th centuries. Sailors, like the convicts, were flogged for minor crimes. Yet they accepted flogging as a necessary means of instilling discipline. At Spithead and the Nore in 1797, the mutineers made no mention of flogging in their lists of grievances. A label is attached and sealed with the Admiralty foul anchor seal. "Sealed pattern of cat to serve as a pattern of the instrument wherewith corporal punishment awarded by court martial by commanding officers of HM ships for offences against the Naval Discipline Act shall be carried out. Not for use on board but to be carefully preserved and returned into store on the ship being out out of commission". The Naval Discipline Act was passed in 1866 and corporal punishment in the navy abolished in 1879. Credit line: © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London Object: TOA0066 Artist: unknown Date: 1866-1879 Medium: wood, baize, twine and rope Size: 1130 mm x 35 mm Click here to buy a bespoke print of this image.