Themes

Article Highlights

• Introduction

• The spark

• The order

• Miscommunication

• Aftermath

The aftermath

Guards released most of those arrested but there were Courts-Martial for Lieutenant Collard and eleven Stokers. Senior officers reprimanded the Lieutenant and imprisoned the Stokers, Stoker Moody receiving the longest sentence of 5 years. The Commodore and the two Commanders involved, all highly respected officers, were relieved of their commands. Officers curtailed the 'On the Knee' order, which sparked all this damage, to drill and not for general use when addressing men.

Contemporary postcard noting the change in use of the 'On the Knee' order (RNM)

The 'On The Knee' mutiny was possibly the most serious and certainly the most widely publicised breakdown in naval discipline before World War One. This incident was not a widespread mutiny, being confined to the Royal Naval Barracks in Portsmouth, and only involved the Stoker branch.