Program Information

The most notorious mutiny in the history of the United States Navy grew out of Matthew Perry's desire to reform the training of young officers.

A Moment in Time is a brief, exciting and compelling journey into the past. Created to excite and enlighten the public about the past, its relevance to the present and its impact on the future, A Moment In Time is a captivating historical narrative that is currently broadcast worldwide.

Transcript

Lead: The most notorious mutiny in the history of the United States Navy grew out of Matthew Perry's desire to reform the training of young officers.

Intro: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: Matthew Calbraith Perry, the younger brother of War of 1812 naval hero Oliver Hazard Perry, had a long, illustrious career in the Navy. Through his forceful diplomacy in the 1850s, the younger Perry persuaded Japan to trade with the outside world. He also displayed a talent for administrative innovation and in the early 1840s came up with a new way of training officers. In the early years of the United States Navy, in a custom carried over from British naval tradition, ships' boys with leadership potential were designated midshipmen and received the special training necessary to become officers.

Perry proposed to standardize officer training. He reasoned that instead of several midshipmen being trained on each ship with the consequent variance in quality of training, special ships should be set aside specifically to train officers. Selected able personnel were sent along to train and help the younger men who would man the ships.

In 1842 Perry had his ship. It was the U.S.S. Somers, a fast, sleek two-masted brig, one of the last ships in the Navy designed specifically to use wind power. As captain, Perry chose his brother-in-law, Alexander Slidell Mackenzie.

With 121 officers and crew, the Somers, on its first cruise, was overcrowded and with more than 70 apprentices on board, was manned by an unusually young complement. Into this tightly-packed and inexperienced company were thrown three bad apples: sailors Cromwell and Smart, and 19-year-old Midshipman Philip Spencer, son of the Secretary of War. Next time: The Conspiracy.

The producer of A Moment In Time is Steve Clark. At the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts.

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