What is a Mutiny?

@Izzy78 - I would think that some of the people that mutinied would do so in order to save their unit and not necessarily care about what happens to them.

In order to successfully mutiny everyone has agree with the problems at hand or allow it to happen and act like they did not know what was going on. If there is an inept leader that is simply leading men to their deaths with little pay off then a small group of people or even one person may mutiny in order to save their comrades in the future.

I do not know of an instance where an entire unit was prosecuted for committing mutiny, there could be instances of this happening, but I am sure that the military would think twice about executing an entire unit, because at that point it is obvious that the commanding officer was the problem and they all believed that he or she was.

Anytime I think of mutinies I think of why the soldiers, under threat of execution, would attempt to overthrow and take over command of themselves, even though high command would eventually find out what happened.

I guess it may have something to do with either inept leadership or military leaders looking to sacrifice as many men as possible in order to achieve victory. I heard that this was a problem in Vietnam as inexperienced officers would send dozens of men to their deaths to simply win a battle for a small hill that had little strategic advantage.

I guess it could come down to the overall mood of the people fighting and if they think it is worth sacrificing or endangering their lives to achieve the goal of a leader. If their leader is doing a terrible job and their lives are on the line because of such they may think about getting rid of their leader and committing mutiny.

I still do not understand why they would do so knowing the penalties involved with mutiny and also knowing that they almost certainly will not get away with it.

@kentuckycat - Many people did commit fragging and this is probably the most modern common occurrence at least in the United States military in modern wars. Mutiny on ships almost never happens anymore, but back in Vietnam fragging and mutinies were common due to problems with the United States military handing officer titles to way too many people that were under-qualified.

Lieutenant George Calley, infamously know for the ordering the killing of over one-hundred civilians in the My Lai Massacre, was an example of an officer who was threatened with fragging on multiple occasions by his troops, due to his inept leadership and personified the problems with attempted mutinies during the Vietnam War.

A mutiny on the high seas can be similar to fragging in the Vietnam war. Fragging is when the soldiers of a unit purposely put a live grenade in their commanding officers backpack or sleeping bag with intent to kill. Usually this was done because of the influx of inexperienced and under-qualified officers making terrible and nearly suicidal decisions that would lead men to death. This could definitely be considered and classified as a mutiny, but it was done to try and prevent an inept leader from making some horrible decision, leading many men to their deaths. Most of the men that did try fragging their officers were prosecuted and a few were given the death penalty under committing an act of mutiny.

One famous victim of mutiny is the explorer Henry Hudson, of the Hudson River fame. When the mutiny occurred, Hudson was on a voyage looking to discover the Northwest Passage to Asia.

His crew had stayed the winter on the shores of the Hudson Bay. Hudson himself wanted to continue exploring the Hudson Bay after the winter was over, in hopes of finding the Northwest Passage.

Hudson's crew wanted to go home instead. They were unable to convince Hudson, so they mutinied and took the ship. They left Hudson, his son, and a few other crew members marooned on a boat with some supplies in the Hudson bay. No one ever heard from Hudson again.

Meanwhile, the crew members weren't punished as mutineers once they got back to England, because they had too much valuable information about sea routes in "the New World."

When I learned about this story in school, it really captured my imagination. I always imagined Hudson and his son had lived, and maybe stayed with the Native Americans after that or something.

@sunnySkys - While mutiny on ships might not be the same as it was a few hundred years ago, mutiny is still possible today. I looked it up, and members of the military can still commit mutiny and be punished with death.

However, it is only mutiny in the United States military to disobey a lawful order. Also, a mutiny must include a conspiracy. Although a member of the military can obviously get in trouble for refusing to obey and order, for a mutiny to take place several people have to conspire to disobey. Very interesting.

I think the concept of mutiny is really interesting, especially on a ship. I imagine that if you're on a ship in the middle of nowhere, and you're being mistreated, you probably have little recourse. I can understand people who mutiny as sort of a strike for better working conditions.

However, I can also understand a mutiny at sea could be really dangerous. In the past when there wasn't any way for a police force to reach the ship. If you were a ship captain and your crew commits mutiny, there isn't much you can do about it.

This is probably why mutiny has been punished so severely, historically speaking. I remember reading somewhere that a lot of times, mutineers are punished with death! This was also partly to deter other people from raising a mutiny.