What was keelhauling

This punishment was much, much rarer than flogging. For very serious infractions, the most common severe punishment was death by hanging. Sailors bound the condemned man by his hands and feet and put a noose around his neck.

But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. In the Age of Sail, the Dutch, and English governments were the only one that officially adopted the use of keelhauling, although many other nations also practiced it in limited quantities such as French. English Royal Navy adopted this form of punishment in the 11th century, while Dutch used it between and Such drastic forms of torture and execution were permitted on the sea because sailors were viewed as workers who had to completely obey the rules of the owners and officers of ships.

While the widespread use of keelhauling stopped in mid 19th century, isolated events of it happening persisted until the 20th century. The most famous example happened in when two Egyptian sailors were punished by keelhauling near Alexandria. Modern sailors and public see the practice of keelhauling as inhumane and savage, while in popular language the term gained the life of its own, describing the moments when someone is punished in an extreme way for a very slight violation of rules.

Assuming the sailor did not usually drown, he would severely injured by the extremely sharp barnacles on the underside of the ship, known as the keel. This practice would leave severe scars on the flesh of the sailor, serving as a constant reminder of the event. While keelhauling is often associated with pirates, it was more commonly used by the navy. Navy sailors were essentially viewed as property, and the captain of the ship held powers of life and death over them.

Severe discipline on ships was supposed to prevent theft and mutiny, although it often had the opposite effect. Sailors were sometimes kidnapped and forced to serve on board naval ships, where severe punishment served as the only motivation to work.

Insubordination was not tolerated, and mutinous sailors were disciplined severely to discourage others from similar rebellion. Keelhauling was one of the worst penalties that could befall a renegade mariner. Although they definitely practiced the gruesome punishment, the British did not invent it—the Dutch did. Keelhaul is a translation of the Dutch word kielhalen , which means "to haul under the keel of a ship.

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'keelhaul. Send us feedback. See more words from the same year. Keeler polygraph. Accessed 13 Nov. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!