Prison ship
A prison ship is a ship that serves as a prison . It is often moored.
Prison ships were first used historically in England in the 18th century to minimize overcrowding in prisons. Today this form of prison is rarely used, but in Great Britain from 1997 to 2005 a prison ship called the HMP Weare , a former troop transport, was occupied with prisoners.
history
Before the beginning of industrialization, the social situation of the English population was dominated by the peasantry. This changed as a result of the mechanization of work in factories with long working hours without recreational opportunities, child labor and low wages, with the result that large sections of the population became impoverished in the early years of the 18th century. Even the smallest offenses such as mouth robbery were punished with harsh prison sentences. The capacities of the stationary prisons and the prison ships in England were insufficient, so a law was passed in 1718 that allowed deportation of offenses with a penalty of seven years, which was then converted into convict labor in the American colonies.
During the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), many prisoners of war were locked in prison ships . Due to the extremely poor prison conditions, there were more victims (approx. 7,000) than in all battles of the war (4,435). One of these ships was for example, the jersey of the Royal Navy . In Wallabout Bay on the East River alone , there were at least 16 British prison ships with 11,000 prisoners.
To commemorate the prisoners 1908 in Brooklyn , the Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument erected, which still exists today.
With the loss of the American colonies, the social situation worsened and the crime rate continued to rise. The criminals could no longer be exiled to the American colonies for detention. The capacities of the prisons and the alternative accommodation in prison ships were exhausted. New alternatives to accommodation were needed. These factors led to the decision of the British government in 1787 to establish the convict colony of Australia in New Holland, which was then the name of Australia .
The German ship Cap Arcona was used as a prison for around 4,600 concentration camp prisoners in 1944 and was bombed and set on fire by British aircraft along with other ships used as prison ships on May 3, 1945. Almost all of the inmates were victims of the bombing and fires. Many of the emaciated prisoners who jumped overboard drowned in the 8 ° C cold Lübeck Bay .
The Maidstone , originally built as a submarine support ship and used in World War II, was used as a prison ship by the British in Northern Ireland in the 1970s , on which independence fighters, including members of the Sinn Féin (1972) party during the British Internment -Politics were imprisoned without legal basis.
In 1997 the Weare was taken into service as a temporary measure to relieve overcrowding in British prisons. The ship was a transport ship for soldiers, which was also used in the Falklands War. It was occupied by prison inmates until 2005 and was sold in 2008. His home port was Portland in Dorset and it became a tourist attraction during his service. The prison ship was controversial among the British public. In 2010, the Tories brought prison ships back into the public eye as the prisons were overcrowded.
In 2007, the Australian federal government commissioned the Triton patrol boat , which critics call a prison ship. The Triton can detain up to 30 people, such as fish poachers or illegal immigrants, at sea for up to a month. Darwin in the Northern Territory was chosen as the home port .
Individual evidence
- ^ Arthur Phillip, Rudolf Plischke (adaptation): Australien. The establishment of the penal colony . P. 24 ff. Lamuv, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-88977-593-4
- ↑ a b bbc.co.uk : Prison ships considered by Tories to ease overcrowding , in English, June 23, 2010, accessed June 27, 2012
- ↑ guardian.co.uk : Steven Morris: Britain's only prison ship ends up on the beach , August 12, 2005, in English, accessed June 27, 2012
- ↑ smh.com.au : Border patrol ship Triton to be launched , February 2, 2007, in English, accessed on June 27, 2012
- ↑ ntnews.com.au : Justin O'Brien: 'Prison ship' drops anchor near Darwin , January 18, 2011, in English, accessed June 27, 2012
Web links
- Britain's Prison Ships, 1776-1783 (English)
- Britain's only prison ship ends up on the beach (English)