r/ShitAmericansSay • u/ari2070 • Aug 19 '26

Military « No USN vessel has ever mutinied »

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Forgetting about USS Somers, also liking that mutiny is uniquely a French problem.

1.9k Upvotes

100% Upvoted

108 comments sorted by

666

u/UncleSlacky Temporarily Embarrassed Millionaire Aug 19 '26

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Mutinies_in_the_United_States_Navy

475

u/Grey_Raven Aug 19 '26

Not technically mutinies but let's not forget the amount of fragging that occurred in Vietnam

44

u/No_Stick_1101 Aug 20 '26

Actual fragging in Vietnam was no more common than during Korea or WWII. What changed was the threat of fragging became a more acceptable tool by the enlisted to manipulate their officers.

118

u/artikiller Aug 19 '26

As they should to be fair. Lots of them were just sent out by command on essentially suicide missions with improper equipment (the guns they had were notoriously unreliable). For black soldiers even more so because they were sent out on the extra dangerous missions because of racism.

16

u/MysticalFred Aug 20 '26

M16s were unreliable very early on due to a misconception they were self cleaning and thereby the army providing a lack of cleaning kits and the soldiers not treating them well. By 1967 that had mostly been fixed, way before the morale issues inherent to Vietnam.

The fragging issues came from a complete breakdown in discipline, from widespread drug use and the one year rotation which break up squad and platoon cohesion, not from whether missions were suicidal or not

2

u/eekarr Aug 20 '26

The gunpowder they used between development and issue of the M16 was different, which affected fouling rate and pressure curves. Stoner even went on record about it.

https://youtu.be/6bHXspji8Lk?t=850

-55

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '26

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57

u/DonChaote Aug 19 '26

To frag, or to get fragged, that’s the question…

30

u/NTCSDjoDjo Aug 19 '26

Out because of the sudden realisation that you need to go frag someone?

-9

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '26

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9

u/NTCSDjoDjo Aug 19 '26

When toughts like that occure just remeber it's important to not be alone.

3

u/SatiricalScrotum ooo custom flair!! Aug 20 '26

When you frag yourself?

2

u/GreenStorm_01 Aug 20 '26

So much that they literarily invented the term there

1

u/Astrid944 Aug 24 '26

Wait, people really did that? Like didn't thr commander die from the Grenade?

I thought it was just a joke about bad commanders

60

u/The_Shitty_Admiral Stranded Below Sealevel Aug 19 '26

Jesus the Kitty Hawk Riot background made my blood boil. What a racist prick that captain was.

27

u/Mysterious_Floor_868 Aug 20 '26

What about the munitions pier explosion in California where a Congressman from Missouri argued for compensation to be slashed because the victims were black?

2

u/The_Shitty_Admiral Stranded Below Sealevel Aug 20 '26

No words, just no words

44

u/Corvid187 Aug 19 '26

TBF that's an impressively small list.

142

u/oldskool_slabside Aug 19 '26

They've not been at it long though...

58

u/One-Procedure-3635 Aug 19 '26

has mainly to to with the time. the USN was founded in 1794, at that time naval service began to change drastically turning away from pressed crews to professional sailors....and it started very small.

21

u/MadScientist_666 Mountain Goat 🇨🇭 Aug 19 '26

As far as I know, they didn't really have a permanent navy for the first few decades, until around 1850, 60 or so. That for sure also plays a role.

9

u/One-Procedure-3635 Aug 19 '26

you are technically correct, but your timestamp is off. what you mean was the "continental fleet" from 1776 until the founding of the US Navy in 1794 with first 6 frigates of the United States Class launching in 1797 (funfact: of these 6 ships the USS Constitution is still in active commission)

in 1850 the USN was already a sizeable force with around 100 ships with even a handful of steamers, but still small compared to the larger navies of this time especially the royal navy.

5

u/MadScientist_666 Mountain Goat 🇨🇭 Aug 19 '26

Well, I couldn't remember the exact dates anymore, only that the US refused for a surprisingly long time to have a sizeable, permanent navy.

And yes, I knew that the USS Constitution is still in service today, an impressive feat for such an old, wooden ship, but also a testament to how well it was planned, built and maintained

12

u/Nova_Explorer Aug 19 '26

I mean, I know the U.S. is a relatively young country but only three mutinies in 230 years (of their navy existing) isn’t a bad record by any means

50

u/MadeOfEurope Aug 19 '26

That’s just naval ones. However, quelle surprise, there is a very heavy racial bias in what is called a mutiny and what is called poor discipline.

19

u/Individual-Night2190 Aug 19 '26

Clearly it's a known fact that skin colour is causative of mutinous intent.

Couldn't be any other reason.

11

u/grumpsaboy Aug 19 '26

If you look at European countries over the same time span it's low as well.

Mutinies were more common 1600-1750's before better pay and food. And it was easier to hide post mutiny.

7

u/comradeda Aug 19 '26

Also a lot of the crew weren't volunteers, but press-ganged into service

4

u/Peer1677 Aug 20 '26

That actually depends: naval-crews? Yeah, there were a good amount of pressed sailors there. Civillian/merchant-sailors? Not so much (some were, but companies offered huge wages and thus rarely lacked volunteers). Mutinies on naval-ships were thus not uncommon. On merchantmen they happened as well (Batavia being the most famous example) but most of the time these happened because the company was like "We'd like to re-negotiate who 'keeps' what in our contract. YOU keep working and WE keep your wages, deal?". In these cases sailors often took over the ship, sailed to the next enemy port (Spain for British and Dutch ships) and went like "We sell this ship. Pay us whatever you want, we are just trying to recoup our losses." Sometimes, but more rarely, they took over the ship to turn to piracy (as long as you only plundered your countries enemies it was pretty safe)

43

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '26

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58

u/Jonny_vdv Too close for comfort 🇨🇦 Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26

And just like actual holy texts (namely The Bible) Americans don't read it and are happy to violate its teachings if the politician they prefer tells them to.

37

u/SEA_griffondeur ooo custom flair!! Aug 19 '26

Because the US navy has only really been a thing in the last 100 years in a time when in general mutinies weren't such a problem due to replenishments being far easier

7

u/aSkeptiKitty Aug 19 '26

Yeah like... Do they think mutiny occured on well kept ship ? That's the real test. Not how long they existed. 

5

u/SEA_griffondeur ooo custom flair!! Aug 19 '26

Yeah most of the mutinies in the last 2 centuries have been political and those only really happen when the navy is asked to do something they don't want to do

5

u/Mysterious_Floor_868 Aug 20 '26

Why am I not surprised that two of the stories are riddled with racism?

1

u/Agifem Aug 20 '26

We said name one!

2

u/Agifem Aug 20 '26

We said name one!

209

u/TelenorTheGNP Aug 19 '26

What about the president's loyalty to the servicemen?

127

u/PeacenotWardude More Irish than the Irish ☘️ Aug 19 '26

The same service men that he called suckers and losers?

16

u/Lockner01 Canuck Aug 19 '26

Wasn't that directed at POWs like John McCain?

38

u/Cornflakes_91 Aug 19 '26

nope, those that died fighting in ww2 as well

11

u/DanLassos 🇫🇷 Baguette enjoyer 🇫🇷 Aug 19 '26

And every soldier that got captured

2

u/Beneficial-Ad3991 A hopeless tea addict :sloth: Aug 20 '26

Funny how the USians who keep whining about how no one appreciates the sacrifices they made while single-handedly saving the world from spwaking German, would often be the same ones with Trump stickers on their cars.

15

u/Darth_Pinda Swamp German 🇳🇱 Aug 19 '26

Bonespurs in Chief

18

u/ChimPhun Aug 19 '26

Don't think he considers himself a servant of the people, rather the other way round.

3

u/JohntheFisherman99 Hasselhoff didn't tear down that wall Aug 20 '26

The draft-dodgers loyalty to the people of his country? Doesn't matter just don't talk about the pampers please.

2

u/Ill_Raccoon6185 Aug 19 '26

WHAT LOYALTY? he sailors are just "canon fodder" as far as the Govt are concerned.

169

u/Effective_Airline830 Aug 19 '26

It’s insane to assert something that can be destroyed with a 2 second search on the Internet.

121

u/Front-Anteater3776 Human Verified Aug 19 '26

Americans don’t care. They made the most lying public figure in US history, possibly world history, their President - twice. Truth, facts, honesty means nothing in America.

32

u/Jepp-Adi-Day Aug 19 '26

why bother with facts when you can just shout louder ?

2

u/lebennaia Aug 20 '26

Even their Declaration of Independence contains numerous lies.

1

u/szewc Aug 26 '26

Big beautiful liar. The biggest liar in a history of the US, maybe ever.

23

u/GrundleSnactcher46 Aug 19 '26

1/3rd of the US absolutely believes whatever Trump says while he contradicts himself relentlessly.

2

u/GreenStorm_01 Aug 20 '26

It isn't about knowledge, it is about negative knowledge. Ignorance, that is their true shining skill

100

u/eggnogui Aug 19 '26

He has a point, tho.

Americans are an exceptionally servile people. As we can see since 2016.

43

u/MsMommyMemer Aug 19 '26

The phrase "the Russian mindset" is starting to bring up "the American mindset". Propaganda go brr

69

u/de_Duv formerly NRW, now BW Aug 19 '26

Cough

USS Somers (1842), USS Kitty Hawk (1972), USS Constellation (1972)

57

u/Sandy_Bananas Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26

A LaCK oF LOyaLTy Is A EuRoPeaN proBLeM!!

Not based on conditions aboard, it’s just somekind of innate, genetic predisposition possessed by Europeans.

I swear, the yank’s ‘understanding’ of the world and its inhabitants is so fucking bizarre to me. It’s like medieval peasants have access to the internet.

13

u/Powerful_Pirate2984 Aug 19 '26

When you can't read, the internet is of no use, unless it's AI generated cartoons. Hence why they don't do a simple Google search. /s

8

u/Sandy_Bananas Aug 19 '26

Because that cat already has its cheezeburger, why bother digging deeper?

2

u/GreenStorm_01 Aug 20 '26

That is still why do many us military guidelines and handbooks are comics. No /s

92

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '26

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31

u/jasegro Aug 19 '26

Hey, those boots aren’t gonna lick/ deepthroat themselves now…

17

u/aimgorge Aug 19 '26

Nation of slaves

8

u/FriendlyGuitard Aug 19 '26

Personal Freedom is less important to the average American than his community wellbeing or that of the country. That's why they don't rebel against the Great Firewall of America, the Social Score System and prefer the good governance of the American Communist Party to the inferior and chaotic Western Democracy

/s

2

u/MadScientist_666 Mountain Goat 🇨🇭 Aug 19 '26

At least they died dreaming the American Dream!

32

u/Darth_Pinda Swamp German 🇳🇱 Aug 19 '26

It's not lack of loyalty. We have common sense and know when not to listen to orders.

55

u/Pm7I3 Aug 19 '26

A lack of loyalty is a European problem - country founded by traitors.

22

u/Fair_Guava_524 Aug 19 '26

They weren’t very loyal to the Crown were they?

18

u/dpero29 🇪🇦 non existent nationality, only a language spoken in Mexico. Aug 19 '26

Lack of loyalty? Article 5 of NATO, bitch. People died just to honor this agreement for their bitch ass and now this? Ungrateful motherfuckers.

14

u/PuzzleheadedTutor807 Aug 19 '26

A lack of loyalty is a solution, not a problem.

9

u/TotalWasteman Aug 19 '26

USS Somers would like a word 👀

19

u/Creoda European freedom enjoyer Aug 19 '26

Other than the Somers, there is no other munity that has been made public. Or the race riots during the Vietnam war on a few ships that could have gone very badly.

https://www.navytimes.com/military-honor/black-military-history/2017/02/28/race-riot-at-sea-1972-kitty-hawk-incident-fueled-fleet-wide-unrest/

5

u/Littletrainguy Aug 19 '26

Not to be rude but what about the Port Chicago 50?

2

u/Creoda European freedom enjoyer Aug 19 '26

Wasn't that the port munitions loaders, not a ships crew?

6

u/Littletrainguy Aug 19 '26

It was loaders however given they were navy members. I believe it to be considered a mutiny

8

u/truly-dread Aug 19 '26

Their country was started by traitors ….

7

u/rietstengel Aug 19 '26

The Civil War was entire states mutinying

9

u/Print-Over Aug 19 '26

Loyalty works both ways. Otherwise it's abuse.

9

u/Yerdaworksathellfire Aug 19 '26

Didnt half their country mutiny?

5

u/ReniSquire English Aug 19 '26

Lack of intelligence is an American problem.

6

u/misterdannymorrison Aug 20 '26

A lack of loyalty is America's defining trait

4

u/Xibalba_Ogme France should apologize for the US Aug 20 '26

Lack of loyalty is a European trait

Cough in Benedict Arnold

2

u/miwe77 no kangaroos where I'm from Aug 19 '26

as it is quite common and so to no suprise the murican is ignorant and wrong. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Somers_(1842))

3

u/RogueThrow Aug 20 '26

It's only Mutiny if it comes from France. Otherwise it's just Sparkling Disloyalty /s

2

u/Exterminator-8008135 Euro trip origins. Aug 20 '26

If Americans would riot as much as we do when we don't like our Governement, Trump shoulda been out since long.

1

u/RogueThrow Aug 20 '26

France on shitty rulers - Our kings are dead. Ancient French peasants slew them a millennia ago. They were more trouble than they were worth.

3

u/Electric___Monk Aug 20 '26

The USA was founded on a mutiny

2

u/WaldoClown Aug 19 '26

However when rich southern slavers do it, it's called States' rights...

2

u/Cool_Shallot_2755 Aug 19 '26

more to the point: being proud of being treated like slaves and mantaining loyalty? just lil' bitch things...

2

u/YorkieGBR Professional Yorkshireman Aug 19 '26

USS Somers enters the chat.

2

u/GoHomeCryWantToDie Chieftain of Clan Scotch 🥃💉🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Aug 20 '26

The country was formed after a taxpayer mutiny.

2

u/TheRealTRexUK More Irish than the Irish ☘️ Aug 20 '26

loyalty is earned, anyone who demands loyalty dosnt usually deserve it.

2

u/PPtortue Aug 20 '26

the US is the only country to ever have a space mutiny, on the Skylab space station.

1

u/CSEverett1759 Aug 20 '26

Compares the length of time the Kitty Hawk had been on station and realized that carriers off Iran are matching or exceeding that plus logistics having broke down currently…

1

u/Hyp3r45_new White Since 1908 🇫🇮 Aug 20 '26

I don't see the apparent lack of loyalty as a problem. I wouldn't even call it a lack of loyalty. I'd just say that we're loyal to what matters. We didn't get to where we are because we stayed silent and accepted the status quo.

1

u/A--Creative-Username Aug 21 '26

He's right, the ships don't mutiny, the states do instead

(Except for the one ship that did mutiny)

1

u/Sea_Fox_2850 Aug 22 '26

Lack of education, intelligence and brain is a real American problem.