H.M.S. IMPREGNABLE

"Britannia Rules The Waves"

When birching was first introduced into the Royal Navy each ship had its own way of securing the boys for punishment on the breech. On some Training Ships like HMS Warspite they were tied over cannons, with a hamock tied over the breech of the gun, but most Training Ships prefered to have them tied to hammocks, in a way that all the other boys assembled on deck could see the birching taking place.

Boys were rated as 1st or 2nd class boys from the day they joined the Royal Navy at 15 or 16 until they were 18 years of age, and subject to caning or birching on the bare buttocks.

After finishing their training on Training Ships in harbour, they were sent to sea on Man O War ships, where they were still subject to birching. We will be looking at what happened on Training Ships and Man O Wars after it was decided to birch boys instead of flogging them with a cat o nine tails.

Here the story becomes murky, as the Admiralty made secret plans to make sure that birching would be just as succesful as flogging with a cat.

Here our story goes into the strange facts about the Jacobs Ladder, used on most ships until that time as a ladder for getting on and off the ship. It was not a rope ladder as most people think of it.

Boys on leave described parts of this strange and new way of punishing them, but still no clear picture emerged of what, when, and how this new way of punishing boys worked. Much of this timidity was caused by embarrasment, as boys did not wish to do into the details, but various descriptions slowly added to the picture.

However until very recently no clear picture had emerged of what exactly went on on these ships during a punishment parade on the quarterdeck, and how all the bits of information fitted together. What's all this about birching and starboard or port ?

For the first time anywhere, the British Empire Magazine will be showing you how the puzzle fits together giving us a clear picture of what went on all those years ago on Royal Naval Training Ships, information that cannot be found anywhere else.

Also see the faces of the lads on board the HMS Impregnable at the time, hear the sea lapping agaist the old Man O War, hear the birch as it swishes through the air, experience what it would have been like if you had been there yourself.

Training ship punishments are being re-enacted, and we will have clips of these punishments on the site soon

DON'T MISS IT

http://www.british-discipline.com/indexpane2.htm

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