Death of an Asshole
Death of an Asshole
On September 13th, 1810 Robert Corbet, Captain of the British Navy and total bastard, was killed in action. Known for mercilessly flogging his crews for miniscule offenses, his foot was blown off by a cannonball while stupidly engaging his Africaine against French frigates Astrée and Iphigénie alone, even though there were three other British ships coming up behind him. He was so obsessed with spit and polish that he did not have his crews exercise their guns because it would ruin the finish of the deck and the shine of the cannon.
When Corbet was given command of the Africaine the crew almost mutinied before he even came aboard. Another ship had to threaten the crew with a broadside to back them down.
The exact circumstances of Corbet’s death aren’t known, it was rumored his crew only really started to fight when he’d been injured, and preferred to stand and be slaughtered rather than fight for him. It’s also unknown whether he bled to death, committed suicide, or was murdered while in the sick bay.
What is known is that after he died, his men fought well under the other officers until the HMS Boadicea arrived to retake the Africaine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_13_September_1810
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Corbet
https://books.google.com/books?id=eaBn7Wf25EYC&lpg=PA279&ots=a3oANaJLyP&dq=captain%20robert%20corbet&pg=PA279#v=onepage&q=captain%20robert%20corbet&f=false
https://books.google.com/books?id=rAocAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA162&lpg=PA162&dq=captain+robert+corbet&source=bl&ots=WogkqsJ6za&sig=AuuOtmpzysP2EdRCEFFti25nA44&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjA4tC-pqLWAhXD6IMKHR6TBcwQ6AEIYzAO#v=onepage&q=captain%20robert%20corbet&f=false
That he was.
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ReplyDeleteman oh man the Royal Navy employed some assholes.
Secretly, there was video taken at the time of his death that captures the exact circumstances.
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Turns out, it was a cannonball to the face.
Immortalized in Aubrey/Maturin no. 4 The Mauritius Command IIRC, where I think I learned some captains so over-cleaned their guns that they actually managed to dangerously thin down the metal of the barrel over years of dedicated scrubbing.
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