11. Self-defense.—
Generally speaking, the remedy of the sailor for violence inflicted upon him on shipboard is to be sought in the courts of law alone. The exigencies of discipline require that, for the common good, authority on shipboard should not be resisted. Nevertheless cases occur where the right of self-defense may be lawfully claimed. Where the master assaults a seaman, the latter may endeavor to escape; if pursued and escape be impossible, and the assault continued, he may use necessary and equivalent force for his own protection.
It should be remembered that the power of punishment on shipboard is vested in the master personally and that the law does not permit his delegating it to others. A mate has no legal right to enforce his orders by beating one of the crew. Up to about seventy years ago corporal punishment of seamen was permitted by law, owing to the nature and supposed necessities of the service, and no doubt officers find it hard to give it up. Courts of admiralty endeavor to deal with these cases in a practical way. Altercations and assaults between master and crew have never been treated by them like those redressed in the common law courts, where the slightest blow may be treated as a trespass to one's dignity and feelings of self-respect. The crew are to be protected from injury and the maritime law will amply vindicate all beatings, woundings and maltreatment, criminally and civilly. The right of self-defense is only a last resort and will seldom need to be invoked.