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Science Fiction & Fantasy |
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A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers
written by Jr. Buckner F. Melton
Studio : Thorndike Press
by Thorndike Press
Publisher : Thorndike Press
Released : 2003-09-02
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780786257249
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 7 reviews)
List Price : $28.95
Our Price : $13.66
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Product Description |
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In 1842, the brig-of-war Somers set out on a training cruise. Among the teenage seamen was Philip Spencer, the disturbed son of the U.S. Secretary of War. When Spencer's scheme to kill the officers and turn Somers into a pirate ship was uncovered, the captain and officers faced a fateful choice. The result shook the nation. |
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2 for the price of 1 |
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Excellent story! While trying to prevent a mutiny in 1842, Commander Alexander Mackenzie, of the US war ship "Sommers" hung a few of the mutinous sailors. The decision was abnormally intensified and complicated since Commander Mackenzie was a rising star in the officer ranks and one of the sailors hung was Midshipman Philip Spencer, son of the Secretary of War!! Not going to look good on the Commander's resume! Awesome story in itself, to choose what to do and the search for who were the main mutineers. It even gets better! Upon returning to the US, an expected uproar in the national press occurred. A major trial ensued to find if Commander Mackinzie had followed proper procedures and hung the correct sailors. The O.J. trial to the third power! Was it Mackenzie's turn to get the noose, be exonerated, or have his career virtually ended! |
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An article expanded to book length |
The story of the Somers is worth the recounting, and Bruckner Melton, who knows his ships and sea lore, certainly writes well enough. (Occasionally his prose does head over the top, as when he compares his pirate manqué with the new nation "where the lights of civilization grew dim and everything, even human life, was in flux."[26]) Nevertheless, Melton here presents a thoughtful and levelheaded version of the events that occurred aboard the Somers in November 1842.
Hanging Offense also treats a host of loosely connected (but often fascinating) ancillary subjects, from the beginnings of Anti-Masonry, to the nature of ancient sailing rigs, to the medical consequences of being beaten with a cat-`o-nine-tails. These digressions help Melton camouflage an obvious limitation of his topic--that it could have been adequately managed in a long article or book chapter.
What leads Melton astray is that, as a law professor, he finds more engaging than will most of his readers the details of the subsequent naval inquiry and court-martial. The inquiry was frankly lackluster, and the most notable feature of the court-martial was a zealous (if sometimes bumbling) judge advocate who conducted a fruitless fishing expedition in an attempt to uncover a post-hanging conspiracy. Unless the reader is a lawyer, he may wish to skip those chapters--more than a third of the volume--because Melton has already mined the records for earlier sections of the book. |
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Philip Spencer |
O here's to Philip Spencer, who when about to die.
When crashing down beneath the waves, loud shouted out Chi Psi! |
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very strange affair.... |
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I found this book to be highly informative and interesting reading material. Obviously, there seem to be several different accounts of this incident but I found Buckner Melton's version to be pretty close to the mark. Other reviews before me have written much about it but I would add little bit of review, the book could have used some illustrations, of the ship, the primary players of this incident and maybe even a blue print of the Somers. Considering level of teen violence today, Melton's accessment sound pretty reasonable to me. |
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Fascinating chronicle of the early American Navy |
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"A Hanging Offense" is a brief but powerful account of an early Amercian Naval incident. In order to squelch a possible mutiny aboard a warship in the early 1840s, the ship's commander executed three accused conspirators, including the alleged reingleader, son of the sitting secretary of war. While it's easy to pick apart the commander's decision, it's important to look at the events from his perspective and within the context of the times. Melton provides a balanced chronicle of this event and what possibly motivated the ship's commander to hang three sailors without benefit of a legal court martial. As a result, this book serves as an important lesson in leadership in general, and not just the military arena. It's important to remember that the Somers' commander was a politically-connected rising star who was all too aware of the consequences of hanging a cabinet secretary's son, but nevertheless felt his actions were necessary. The Somers was a small but swift vessel whose loss would be both an embarrassment to the pride of the fledgling US Navy and a danger to other vessels. The Somers was crewed by mostly teenage trainees who, the captain feared, would fall under the influence of the mutineers into killing the ship's officers and becoming pirates. Although this entire premise sounds absurd, the circumstances provide a conundrum that would challenge the best military leaders in the world. Melton presents this entire chapter of Naval history in a clear and lucid manner, without taking sides. If you're interested in books about the character traits of leaders, forget the management books that are out there. Read a history of the extreme example of a no-win situation and ponder what you would do if you were the Somers' captain. |
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