Mutiny and the Royal Canadian Navy CHRISTOPHER M. BELL Mutiny? Pure piffle, nonsense. They were perfectly orderly the whole time. — Captain E. R. Mainguy, RCN, August 1945 1 Mutinies, like the armed services in which they occur, reflect the societies that produce them. Throughout history, naval personnel have defied authority in pursuit of a wide variety of goals, ranging from the improvement of shipboard conditions to far-reaching political reform and, in rare cases, outright revolution. This chapter examines the Canadian Navy’s experience with mutiny. It begins by providing a conceptual framework for understanding naval mutinies as a phenomenon across time and borders. Mutinies in the navies of modern, democratic states like Canada have traditionally differed in important ways from those in authoritarian regimes or less-developed societies. In the former, mutinies have usually been short-lived, non-violent, and easily-resolved. They sometimes spread from ship to ship, but the mutineers' demands mostly remain moderate and limited. In the latter, incidents have been less frequent, but are more often characterized by violence, escalating demands, and revolutionary intent. 2 This chapter also places the Canadian navy’s experience into an Imperial context. Britain’s Royal Navy (RN) already had a centuries-old tradition of mutiny when the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) was established in 1910. Canada’s new service adopted or absorbed many of the Royal Navy’s laws, customs and traditions, including those relating to matters of discipline and welfare. Thus, for many officers and ratings, attitudes towards mutiny were shaped by their training and service with the RN. Finally, this chapter examines the Canadian Navy’s own mutinies. These were relatively modest affairs, with disgruntled ratings generally locking themselves into a mess deck to draw attention to complaints about matters such as leave, workload, or treatment by officers. These protests, which authorities and participants alike were loath to label as mutinies, occurred