Numerous petitions were written by individual seamen and whole ships' companies before and during the mutinies in 1797. They offer a rare glimpse of the ordinary seaman's opinions on discipline and punishment, as well as on the conduct of naval officers. This chapter will concentrate on the petitions submitted by the ships at Spithead in April and May 1797.

In the eighteenth-century navy, if the ship's company had grievances it was customary to bring them to the captain's attention by coming on to the quarterdeck or by putting them in writing. In most cases, the captain would then forward the letter of complaint through the commander-in-chief of the station to the Admiralty. If the captain refused to do so, or was himself mentioned in the complaint, the seamen sent it directly to the commanding admiral or to the Admiralty Commissioners in London. On receiving a petition the Admiralty would invariably order the senior flag officer of the station to conduct an inquiry. He in turn would despatch two or three junior flag officers or senior captains who would question the officers separately, examine the ship's books for excessive use of punishments, and summon the ship's company as a whole to ask their views. Sometimes the complaints were reported to be ill-founded or malicious because no one had come forward to give evidence. It is easy to be cynical about the willingness of ratings to expose themselves by complaining in public against their officers.