First U.S. Naval Officer Executed for Mutiny. Philip Spencer Born January 28, 1823 d. 1842 American naval officer. He was the first U.S. naval officer executed for mutiny. His father was President John Tyler’s Secretary of War at the time. Spencer joined the navy with the help of his father John C. Spencer the current U.S. Secretary of War. He twice assaulted an officer aboard the USS North Carolina while under the influence of alcohol. He was then reassigned to the USS John Adams, where he was involved in a drunken brawl with a Royal Navy officer while on shore leave. He attempted to avoid court-martial by resigning, but his resignation was rejected and he was reassigned to the USS Somers. He was then accused of forming a plan with two other sailors to seize the Somers and sail her as a pirate ship. The three men were hanged on the yardarm. The Somers affair was the inspiration for the Billy Budd character in Herman Melville’s novel Billy Budd, Sailor. Melville was the first cousin of an officer aboard the ship.
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