The HMS African revisited: the Royal Navy and the homosexual community.
The article contains both a survey of writings on homosexuality in military organizations since the early 1970s, and a reexamination of the homoerotic involvements on the Royal Navy's HMS Africaine from 1811 to 1815. The Africaine affair, first studied by Arthur N. Gilbert in 1974, involved a sexually active coterie on board the ship that included a large segment of the crewmembers. Analytical structures for studying all-male sexuality 30 years ago have gradually been superseded by new theoretical paradigms, and these more recently developed approaches can be used effectively to provide a greater understanding of the events that led to a series of courts martial and the hanging of four of the Africaine's men in 1816.
Burg
B R
BR
Department of History, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA. burg@asu.edu
D003415:Crime / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000266:history*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000266:history* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012767:Ships / Q000266:history*; D006113:United Kingdom