Naval history at its finest

On December 16, 1842, the US brig-of-war Somers dropped anchor in Brooklyn Harbor at the end of a cruise intended to teach a group of adolescents the rudiments of naval life. This harmless exercise ended in catastrophe. Commander Alexander Slidell Mackenzie said he had narrowly prevented a mutiny and three of the thwarted mutineers had been hanged. It soon became clear the order that condemned the men had no legal basis. Worse, perhaps a mutiny had never occurred; the ship might have been seized by a creeping hysteria that ended in the sacrifice of three innocents. A highly public court martial put Mackenzie on trial for his life.

Vividly told and filled with tense action, this all-but-forgotten episode is based on court martial transcripts.

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