The Spithead mutiny

COMING AFTER THE SET-BACKS OF 1796, the victory off Cape St Vincent revived the national spirit and restored confidence in the navy. But the mood did not last. Two months later came news of the worst possible kind – the Channel Fleet had mutinied. On Easter Sunday, 16 April 1797, the seamen refused to sail and announced that the fleet would remain at its anchorage at Spithead until their grievances had been satisfied. The principal demand was for higher pay, but there were calls for improvements in victuals, and in the treatment of the sick and wounded. Rates of pay were a matter of real concern to the men. Army salaries had recently been increased, whereas naval pay had not risen since 1652, and had failed to keep up with rapid rises in the cost of living over the previous two years. There was also an unspoken grumble over the operation of the recent Quota Acts, which required every county to furnish a set number of men for the service. In their anxiety to comply, local authorities had offered anyone who came forward bounties amounting to £40, £50 and, in one instance, £64. Since the normal bounty for a volunteer able seaman was £5, there was a wave of resentment at a system which heaped riches on untrained landsmen while denying it to those with real skills.