Anav
12-13-2011, 16:29
Historical punishments
Naval types and use
The naval cat, also known as the captain's daughter (in principle, it was used under his authority), weighed about 13 ounces (370 grams) and was composed of a baton (handle) and nine cords.
Contrary to popular belief, the standard cat was not the most feared implement; being made of rope, it was less painful than a leather whip or a wooden birch-rod,[citation needed] while the modes of application (number and intensity of lashes, anatomical target, baring) of any implement can be more important than its intrinsic potential.
Naval punishments
All formal punishments—ordered by captain or court martial—were administered ceremonially on deck, the crew being summoned to "witness punishment" (although usually adults and boys separated, which was apparently not strictly observed in practice)[citation needed] and drama enhanced by drum roll and a whole routine, including pauses, untangling of the tails, a drink of water and so on, which it is believed were intended more for the benefit of the watching crew than for the actual participants. Informal "daily" punishments, usually without assembly, including canings, were often left unrecorded.[citation needed]
The thieves' cat, to inflict punishment for theft, which was considered a particularly offensive crime aboard ship, had each of its thongs knotted three times to cause additional pain.
Napoleonic wars period
During the period of the Napoleonic wars, the naval cat's handle was made of rope about 2 feet (0.61 m) long and about 1 inch (25 mm) in diameter, and was traditionally covered with red baize cloth. The tails were made of cord about a quarter inch (6 mm) in diameter and typically 2 feet long.[citation needed]
A new cat was made for each flogging by a bosun's mate and kept in a red baize bag until use. In Trafalgar time, it was made by the condemned sailor during 24 hours in leg irons; the nine strongest falls were kept, and extra lashes were administered if any of the selected falls were found to be sub-standard. If several dozen lashes were awarded, each could be administered by a fresh bosun's mate—a left-handed one could be included to assure extra painful crisscrossing of the wounds. One dozen was usually awarded as a highly sensitizing prelude to running the gauntlet.
In some cases a cat with a wooden handle was used, and steel balls or barbs of wire were added to the tips of the thongs to maximize the potential flogging injury.
Boys' punishment
For summary punishment of Royal Navy boys, a lighter model was made, the reduced cat, also known as boy's cat, boy's ***** or just *****, that had only five tails of smooth whip cord. If formally convicted by a court martial, however, even boys would suffer the punishment of the adult cat.
While adult sailors received their lashes on the back, they were administered to boys on the bare posterior, usually while "kissing the gunner's daughter" (bending over a gun barrel), just as boys' lighter "daily" chastisement was usually over their (often naked) rear-end (mainly with a cane – this could be applied to the hand, but captains generally refused such impractical disablement – or a rope's end). Bare-bottom discipline was a tradition of the English upper and middle classes, who frequented public schools,[2] so midshipmen (trainee officers, usually from 'good families', getting a cheaper equivalent education by enlisting) were not spared, at best sometimes allowed to receive their lashes inside a cabin. Still, it is reported that the 'infantile' embarrassment of bare-bottom punishment was believed essential for optimal deterrence; cocky miscreants might brave the pain of the adult cat in the macho spirit of "taking it like a man" or even as a "badge of honour".
On board training ships, where most of the crew were boys, the cat was never introduced, but their bare bottoms risked, as in other naval establishments on land, the sting of the birch, another favourite in public schools.
Flogging round the fleet
"The severest form of flogging was a flogging round the fleet. The number of lashes was divided by the number of ships in port and the offender was rowed between ships for each ship's company to witness the punishment." Penalties of hundreds of lashes were imposed for the gravest offences, including sedition and mutiny. The prisoner was rowed 'round the fleet in an open boat and received a number of his lashes at each ship in turn, for as long as the surgeon allowed. Sentences often took months or years to complete, depending on how much a man was expected to bear at a time. Normally 250–500 lashes was when a man taking this punishment would kill him, as infections would spread." After the flogging was completed, the sailor's lacerated back was frequently rinsed with brine or seawater, which served as a crude antiseptic. Although the purpose was to control infection, it caused the sailor to endure additional pain, and gave rise to the expression, "rubbing salt into his wounds," which came to mean vindictively or gratuitously increasing a punishment or injury already imposed.
Naval types and use
The naval cat, also known as the captain's daughter (in principle, it was used under his authority), weighed about 13 ounces (370 grams) and was composed of a baton (handle) and nine cords.
Contrary to popular belief, the standard cat was not the most feared implement; being made of rope, it was less painful than a leather whip or a wooden birch-rod,[citation needed] while the modes of application (number and intensity of lashes, anatomical target, baring) of any implement can be more important than its intrinsic potential.
Naval punishments
All formal punishments—ordered by captain or court martial—were administered ceremonially on deck, the crew being summoned to "witness punishment" (although usually adults and boys separated, which was apparently not strictly observed in practice)[citation needed] and drama enhanced by drum roll and a whole routine, including pauses, untangling of the tails, a drink of water and so on, which it is believed were intended more for the benefit of the watching crew than for the actual participants. Informal "daily" punishments, usually without assembly, including canings, were often left unrecorded.[citation needed]
The thieves' cat, to inflict punishment for theft, which was considered a particularly offensive crime aboard ship, had each of its thongs knotted three times to cause additional pain.
Napoleonic wars period
During the period of the Napoleonic wars, the naval cat's handle was made of rope about 2 feet (0.61 m) long and about 1 inch (25 mm) in diameter, and was traditionally covered with red baize cloth. The tails were made of cord about a quarter inch (6 mm) in diameter and typically 2 feet long.[citation needed]
A new cat was made for each flogging by a bosun's mate and kept in a red baize bag until use. In Trafalgar time, it was made by the condemned sailor during 24 hours in leg irons; the nine strongest falls were kept, and extra lashes were administered if any of the selected falls were found to be sub-standard. If several dozen lashes were awarded, each could be administered by a fresh bosun's mate—a left-handed one could be included to assure extra painful crisscrossing of the wounds. One dozen was usually awarded as a highly sensitizing prelude to running the gauntlet.
In some cases a cat with a wooden handle was used, and steel balls or barbs of wire were added to the tips of the thongs to maximize the potential flogging injury.
Boys' punishment
For summary punishment of Royal Navy boys, a lighter model was made, the reduced cat, also known as boy's cat, boy's ***** or just *****, that had only five tails of smooth whip cord. If formally convicted by a court martial, however, even boys would suffer the punishment of the adult cat.
While adult sailors received their lashes on the back, they were administered to boys on the bare posterior, usually while "kissing the gunner's daughter" (bending over a gun barrel), just as boys' lighter "daily" chastisement was usually over their (often naked) rear-end (mainly with a cane – this could be applied to the hand, but captains generally refused such impractical disablement – or a rope's end). Bare-bottom discipline was a tradition of the English upper and middle classes, who frequented public schools,[2] so midshipmen (trainee officers, usually from 'good families', getting a cheaper equivalent education by enlisting) were not spared, at best sometimes allowed to receive their lashes inside a cabin. Still, it is reported that the 'infantile' embarrassment of bare-bottom punishment was believed essential for optimal deterrence; cocky miscreants might brave the pain of the adult cat in the macho spirit of "taking it like a man" or even as a "badge of honour".
On board training ships, where most of the crew were boys, the cat was never introduced, but their bare bottoms risked, as in other naval establishments on land, the sting of the birch, another favourite in public schools.
Flogging round the fleet
"The severest form of flogging was a flogging round the fleet. The number of lashes was divided by the number of ships in port and the offender was rowed between ships for each ship's company to witness the punishment." Penalties of hundreds of lashes were imposed for the gravest offences, including sedition and mutiny. The prisoner was rowed 'round the fleet in an open boat and received a number of his lashes at each ship in turn, for as long as the surgeon allowed. Sentences often took months or years to complete, depending on how much a man was expected to bear at a time. Normally 250–500 lashes was when a man taking this punishment would kill him, as infections would spread." After the flogging was completed, the sailor's lacerated back was frequently rinsed with brine or seawater, which served as a crude antiseptic. Although the purpose was to control infection, it caused the sailor to endure additional pain, and gave rise to the expression, "rubbing salt into his wounds," which came to mean vindictively or gratuitously increasing a punishment or injury already imposed.