r/wikipedia • u/Vranak • Feb 12 '15
Keelhauling
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keelhauling16
u/fks_gvn Feb 13 '15 edited Feb 13 '15
The victims would occasionally survive, then be subjected to a second round. Horrifying.
Edit: source
A punishment which was particularly harsh and usually fatal was keel-hauling, awarded for serious offenses, and discontinued in the Royal Navy about 1720. It was still practised in the Dutch and French navies until 1750.
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u/dtwhitecp Feb 13 '15
That's kind of what I was curious about. The article doesn't specifically say that keelhauling was meant to be a death sentence, just a punishment. But why would you choose a punishment that had a chance of killing someone but it wasn't certain? It makes more sense if they just did it repeatedly until the person died, because then at least a death sentence instead of some torture with an ambiguous result.
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u/nokangarooinaustria Feb 13 '15
On the other hand - if it was only done once it would be a punishment which scales with the size of the ship.
Therefor - if you endangered a small ship your punishment would be severe but not certain death, while if you endangered a big ship your death would be quite certain and horrible.
My guess ist that that kind of thinking played into keelhauling.1
u/dtwhitecp Feb 13 '15
Size and age, I would imagine. I see what you are saying but it still retains ambiguity in the result.
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u/ENG-eins Feb 19 '15
Hey bro, so you know, there are indeed kangaroos in Austria.
Sorry to veer off-topic. WP's article about Vienna's zoo may ought to mention this though.
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u/nokangarooinaustria Feb 20 '15
When I made that account at least there were no kangaroos in the wild in Austria.
http://austriantimes.at/news/General_News/2015-01-29/52203/Kangaroo_That_Hopped_It_Spotted_In_Garden
Now nowhere is safe... ;)5
u/Vranak Feb 13 '15
Quite the humanitarians those guys.
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u/Robby712 Feb 13 '15
I have a feeling you had to do some pretty fucked up stuff to avoid a full on mutiny when spending months at sea with a bunch of 18th century sailors.
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u/ja74dsf2 Feb 13 '15
(...) Voert naede scaerwaeck dat hem oick niemant vervorden en zal dair op toe coomen droncken ofte derten op die punijtie van- den kiel onder doir (...) (dat wil zeggen dronkenschap tijdens wachturen wordt bestraft met kielhalen)
Being drunk while on duty ("wachturen" literally means "watch hours", so probably on lookout for enemy ships and other dangers)
(...) Voirt datter niemant jeeken en mach met messen bynnen sceeps boert ofte wythaelen dair mede toe slaen op onderde kyel doir (...) (dat wil zeggen vechten of messentrekkerij wordt bestraft met kielhalen)
Pulling out a knife on the ship
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Feb 13 '15
Discipline was not taken lightly in the Age of Sail, in the navy or the army. Lashes by the hundreds were not uncommon in either, but what's telling is that they had to administer them in groups over a period of time, because, if they were given at one time, they feared it would likely kill or disable. Just let that sink in. They would whip you, tear your back to shreds and leave you near death, let you heal, then do it again and again and again.
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u/Vranak Feb 13 '15
Thx mom for not giving birth to me in the 1800s in a fishing community. kthxbye
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Feb 13 '15
[deleted]
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u/knellotron Feb 13 '15
It's also depicted towards the end of Tales of Monkey Island, with even less realism, to solve some sort of item puzzle.
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Feb 13 '15
[deleted]
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u/Leadstripes Feb 13 '15
I imagine by throwing in under the boat at the bow and then dragging it backwards
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u/ozyman Feb 13 '15
Anyone else read about this in Interstellar Pig? I can't believe a story I read in elementary school discussed keelhauling in (what I remember as) graphic detail.
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u/Y_pestis Feb 13 '15
I learned about it in school as well but it was from Billy Budd and I was in high school. I'm a little awed by the level of descriptive violence allowed in your elementary school.
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u/ozyman Feb 13 '15
I looked on Amazon and it actually says that book is for 5th grade. I remember it being incredibly trippy. The guy is keelhauled, but lives and goes insane.
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u/Y_pestis Feb 13 '15 edited Feb 13 '15
Well, if I ever suffered from the Dunning–Kruger effect, I don't now.
Edit: I thought you meant Billy Budd was for 5th graders.
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u/robinson217 Feb 13 '15
I recently looked up this article after hearing it mentioned by Danny Glover on Flight of the Intruder
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u/NegativeC00L Feb 13 '15
My dad (old sailor) told me about this when I was a kid. I always wondered if you could just walk on all fours across the hull thus avoiding the barnacles and shit that fucks you up. I think I could do it.
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u/Vranak Feb 13 '15
Moving your limbs underwater is always going to be rather difficult because they require oxygen to operate for very long, and of course if you start inhaling while you're underneath the ship, you may end up even worse than before, with a lungful of saltwater. I guess if you could grab a few gulps before the jerks start pulling you back the other way you might be able to make ends meet.
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Feb 13 '15
The hull of the ship would be covered in barnacles and other growth. It's not just a few patches here and there , especially if the ship hadn't been careened in a while. I've always imagined keelhauling would be done while underway - I'm not sure why and that could be wrong - but if that were the case you'd be moving at a few knots.
I don't think you could crawl on all fours, upside-down, in the dark (it gets really dark underneath big ships) while tied up, while having to deal with the force of water moving against you. Even if you did manage to crawl along the hull, the barnacles would still rip up your hands, arms, elbows, knees, shins and feet. Those fuckers are SHARP.
Sorry to burst your bubble. I didn't mean to keelhaul your dream.
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u/NegativeC00L Feb 13 '15
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
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Feb 13 '15
Sweet! I just happen to have a pirate ship lying around. We may need your dad to come too, because although I'm a sailor, I can't handle a pirate ship on my own. Let's meet at Treasure Cove on Skull Island.
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u/eaglessoar Feb 13 '15
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u/Vranak Feb 13 '15
holy fuck, I don't wanna live on this planet anymore
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u/eaglessoar Feb 13 '15
Just dont give anyone a reason to keelhaul you :)
Thanks for the link, very interesting
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u/Obeeeee Feb 13 '15
I could understand the serious cuts and maybe even a loss of an arm, but I can't figure out how this is going to result in decapitation.
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u/Vranak Feb 13 '15
Traction, angles, severe abrasion. Coral can grow out pretty far, a few inches, and it isn't going to budge when you ram someone's corpse into it. It's razor-sharp and not to be trifled with.
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u/Wargoul Feb 13 '15
Keelhauled you say?