Punishments
Although pirates upheld a rigid code of honor, there were times that crewmembers had to be punished for various offenses to the code, as well as for flagrant disobedience to the captain during battle, which was the equivalence of treason in their eyes. Stealing from the ship was punishable by death, as was rape.
Here are some frequently used punishments. Notice that "Walking the Plank" is NOT among them.
MAN OVERBOARD
This form of punishment is fairly self-explanatory. The accused is simply tossed off of the moving ship and left for dead. A common variation to this theme is for the accused to be towed by a rope behind the ship until he dies from hypothermia and exhaustion.
CAT O' NINE TAILS
This flogging technique is frequently referred to as Moses's Law (40 stripes lacking one). The name comes from the number of lashes that Jesus receives from Herod in the Bible. The quartermaster is the only individual who administered floggings with the cat o' nine tails, and it was frequently used as punishment for striking other crewmembers, or other less heinous crimes. This was one of the few punishments that did not lead to death, though it was quite barbaric. The cat o' nine tails was usually an unwound rope whip of nine strands, the ends of which varied. Sometimes the ends were tarred nots, and sometimes fish hooks or musketballs were placed on the end to inflict more pain on the accused. After the beating, the raw skin was sometimes covered with salt and vinegar for further punishment.
MAROONING
This punishment usually consisted of leaving the accused stranded on a small, deserted island or a tiny raft to die. Many times the accused was left with a small pistol in order to kill himself before he was eaten by sharks or perished from sunstroke or starvation. (Suicide was considered a more honorable death to the pirates.) Marooning was the popular choice of punishment for deserters.
DUNKING
This punishment entailed being endlessly dunked in the ocean and alternately suspended above the ocean for hours. It wasn't as popular as the other punishments.
