Themes
The Invergordon Mutiny of 1931
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The aftermath
Two days after the disturbances the Admiralty announced that there would be no Courts Martial and no Commission of Inquiry. Both sides of the House of Commons agreed to this. Every piece of official information was suppressed for nearly forty years.
At the time the Royal Navy dealt severely with the so called 'ringleaders' and major participants in the mutiny. They discharged about 120 sailors after completing punishment routines in barracks ashore including Able Seaman (AB) Len Wincott of HMS Norfolk, perhaps the most prominent of the ringleaders. The Admiralty removed and reassigned most of the senior officers, reassuring them that this would not damage their future careers in the service. The Admiralty also discharged from service several hundred men from other stations and ships who they perceived to be troublemakers. King George V was greatly concerned about the situation and was instrumental in appointing Admiral Sir John Kelly to be the new Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Atlantic fleet in early October. The lower deck admired and respected Admiral Kelly because they felt he understood their situation.
The Cabinet accepted Rear-Admiral Tomkinson's recommendation that ratings on the old rate of pay remained on that rate with a 10% pay cut so that they would be in line with the rest of the service. The effect of revising the pay cuts, however, actually benefited very few men. For the majority, the cuts brought the total loss of pay close to that originally ordered.
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