on the night of december 4, 1794, the crew of the h.m.s. culloden mutinied: about fifty men suddenly caused mayhem, and in the confusion disarmed the marines and forced all officers, loyalists, and soldiers above deck, then seized arms and barricaded the hatches. they were concerned about the condition of their ship, which had weathered a storm badly because their new, young captain chose a badly sheltered mooring point; troubridge, the captain, had already lost one ship under his command and was under great pressure to follow his orders to sail to the mediterranean without delay. the crew had no faith that their ship was safe to sail, and their repeated concerns were ignored, so they went on an armed strike, demanding that troubridge be removed and the ship repaired.
the mutineers demonstrated incredible solidarity over the course of their action: they held the lower decks of the ship for days, refusing to appoint a spokesperson, communicating primarily by writing and insisting that all decisions had been made collectively, with no one man responsible for the mutiny. while the mutiny was begun by only fifty or so men, 250 men participated, all insistently holding the line. the mutiny ended after another officer checked the bilges & found that the ship was safe to sail. even with this strong evidence, the crew refused to return to work until they were offered an assurance that no one would be penalized; although we don't know exactly what was said, it seems likely that the officers on site falsely made this promise.
under the law, only individuals can be charged with a crime. of the 250 mutineers, charges were brought against less than thirty, and of these, only eight hanged. sailors refused to inform on one another; multiple were imprisoned for contempt of court for refusing to testify against their fellows. the culloden mutineers were unsuccessful. they won no victories, their ship was seaworthy the whole time and their captain was not replaced; but their incredible solidarity inspired other crews, who also took up arms in work stoppages, & cast a long shadow
