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During April 1947, the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) was affected by a series of peaceful mutinies amongst the enlisted sailors of four ships and two shore bases. Over 20% of the RNZN's enlisted personnel were punished or discharged for their involvement. The main cause was the poor rates of pay compared to the rest of the New Zealand Defence Force (which was overall well behind equivalent civilian wages), and was instigated by the release of a government review on the matter. Complaints were that the new pay rates were still inferior to the other branches of the military, and the increases would be consumed by taxes, inflation, and cancellation of allowances and benefits. The conclusion of the review was a year overdue, but a previously promised backdating of the increase was not initially announced. The poor living and working conditions aboard RNZN ships was another issue, compounded by sailors having no effective way to make dissatisfaction known to the higher ranks (many experienced divisional officers had been discharged as part of post-war demobilisation efforts, and although lower-deck welfare committees had been implemented, they were not permitted to discuss or propose alterations to shipboard conditions). Dissatisfaction with peacetime duties and opportunities also contributed: many sailors were locked into enlistment periods of up to 12 years, and demobilisation efforts had prioritised those enlisted specifically for the duration of World War II. The main mutiny started on the morning of 1 April, when around 100 sailors from the shore base , in Devonport, declared their intent to refuse duty in protest of the governments' broken promises on pay. They were joined by another hundred personnel from the cruiser and the corvette , and marched off the base. After campaigning for three days and winning the right to backdated pay, the mutineers were offered a choice: return to duty and accept punishment, or be discharged. The majority chose the latter; these men were financially penalised, denied access to veterans' benefits, and had trouble finding other work because of government bans on employing them. The 23 who returned to duty were punished through rank reductions, reductions in rank and pay, or short periods of imprisonment. On 8 April, seven sailors at the shore base , in Lyttelton, refused to work and demanded to be discharged. Also that morning, the captain of the ''Castle''-class minesweeper was presented a letter stating that sailors were dissatisfied with the handling of lower-deck committees, and eleven sailors deserted. Some returned to duty voluntarily, but the rest were arrested by police. Punishment (both for those who returned voluntarily and those arrested) consisted of sentences of 60 days imprisonment, commuted to durations of 14 to 24 days. At the time of the initial mutiny, the cruiser was in Australian waters. Initial efforts by the officers alleviated concerns over the pay review, but when the ship returned to New Zealand in late April, the pay disparity issue resurfaced, along with several sailors' desire to seek discharge, and concern over the treatment of the other groups of mutineers. While on day leave on Anzac Day (25 April), about 100 of ''Bellona'' ship's company decided not to return to duty. They recruited 40 sailors from ''Philomel'' waiting to be posted to the cruiser, but the actions of the cruiser's officers prevented the group from drawing off any sailors on duty. On 28 April, the group presented their demands to the captain, but were informed that anyone not reporting for duty the following day would be considered Absent Without Leave. The next morning, 52 sailors were marked as having deserted, although all but 20 returned before ''Bellona'' next deployment two months later. The ''Bellona'' mutineers received punishments of up to 92 days imprisonment, with some losing rank or good conduct badges, while the deserters additionally lost all unpaid pay and allowances. Arrest warrants were issued for those who did not return, with one sailor at large for over two years. The mutinies and the resulting manpower shortage forced the RNZN to remove ''Black Prince'' from service, and set the navy's development and expansion back by a decade. Despite this impact, the size and scope of the events have been downplayed over time.〔 ==Causes== From the navy's inception in 1941, there were concerns about sailors' pay and conditions.〔Frame & Baker, ''Mutiny!'', pp. 189–90〕 By the end of World War II, naval pay was well behind equivalent ranks in the New Zealand Army and the Royal New Zealand Air Force, and much lower than wages for equivalent jobs in the civilian sector.〔 Sailors were forced to accept this instead of seeking work elsewhere, as they had enlisted for set periods during the war; some were required to complete twelve years service.〔Frame & Baker, ''Mutiny!'', p. 190〕 Following the war's end, a review of pay was initiated.〔 During his 1943 re-election campaign, Prime Minister Peter Fraser promised that new pay scales would be established by 1 April 1946; if there were any delays, the pay rates would be backdated, and the sailors would receive the difference as a lump sum.〔Frame & Baker, ''Mutiny!'', pgs 190, 193, 196〕 The review was published on 1 April, although many sailors learned of the details from contacts during the preceding weekend of 29–30 March.〔Frame & Baker, ''Mutiny!'', p. 193〕 While an improvement, the new pay rates were still half that of the Army and Air Force, and most, if not all, of the increase would end up absorbed by increasing tax rates.〔 In addition, several benefits or allowances were either removed (for example, uniformed personnel were no longer allowed free travel on public transport, unless issued a voucher to do so) or were not modified to compensate for inflation (for example, uniform allowances remained at pre-war levels, despite the threefold increase in uniform prices).〔 The promised backdating was not mentioned in the initial announcement, resulting in great dissatisfaction amongst the sailors.〔〔 A later announcement clarified that the backdating would occur, but it is unclear if doing so was originally intended, or added in response to the mutiny.〔 On a related front, many of the sailors who had signed up for long periods during the war were finding themselves dissatisfied with peacetime duties and conditions.〔National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy, ''1947 Mutiny''〕 Some attempted to secure a discharge as they thought there would be better opportunities and pay in civilian jobs, but demobilisation efforts were focused on the personnel who had signed up under "Hostilities Only" conditions.〔 The two ships on which the mutiny originated, the ''Dido''-class cruiser and the Flower-class corvette , were both considered to have poor accommodation and seakeeping conditions, particularly when wartime upgrades both decreased the space available and increased the number of personnel required to operate them.〔Frame & Baker, ''Mutiny!'', pp. 188–92〕 Enlisted personnel felt that their concerns about service conditions were not being considered by the navy.〔 Following requests and demands for a formal channel through which sailors could express their grievances, the British Admiralty had approved the formation of lower-deck committees.〔 New Zealand authorities had reluctantly agreed to this, but the committees were banned from considering or making proposals to the officers on the matters of pay, shipboard routine, or service conditions; the issues that affected the sailors the most.〔 Of the 219 recommendations made by various committees to higher authorities, only 6 had been approved for consideration, and only 1 was implemented.〔 The National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy partially attributes the lack of concern for lower-deck welfare to the breakdown of chains of communication as divisional officers were demobilised, along with the broader disruption caused by demobilisation efforts.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1947 Royal New Zealand Navy mutinies」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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