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I Read an Eyewitness Account of Keelhauling…It’s Horrifying

Raw History

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Keelhauling has gone down in history as one of the most brutal punishments ever inflicted at sea. But what actually happened to the unfortunate sailors condemned to endure it?

In this episode of Raw History, we uncover the real history of keelhauling — how it was carried out, what it did to the human body, and whether it was really intended to kill...or not.

**VIEW DESCRETION IS ADVISED**

20 Comments

@Raw.History Creator 2 weeks ago Pinned

Which punishment from history do you think was worse than keelhauling?

@ascensionindustries9631 2 weeks ago

As soon as you can think of the worst punishment in history, there's always one worse. 💀

@michaelkell2913 2 weeks ago

We are ever so creative at being horrible to each other.

@hastyone9048 2 weeks ago

It never ceases to amaze me the depths of human cruelty.

@richardhockey8442 2 weeks ago

keelhauling - when you get to experience what a piece of cheese feels as it is grated, with the added spice of nearly drowning

@Deltaaaaaaaaa 11 days ago

This and being cooked in the brazen bull are examples of the nightmare of man’s cruelty.

@Valkaneer 6 days ago

150 lashes, Keel Hauling, and a 2 year sentence? That Captain should have gotten the punishment he gave out.

@swankypeter 2 weeks ago (edited)

Spongebob you hooked me millionth dollar on the backswing reel it in before I keelhaul ya -Mr Krabs

@ralphfisher-d5j 2 weeks ago

Traveling in the Aegean we had a swim, one of our group decided to swim under the boat, his back made contact with a barnacle or two, sliced him badly!

@SUNDOGG97 2 weeks ago

In Black Sails, when Black Beard was keel hauled it was very horrible.

@delightfulBeverage 2 weeks ago

ah yes, back in the good old days when the price of a human life was more than affordable

@Just-t2k9t 2 weeks ago (edited)

The series Black Sails showed people being Keelhauled, I think they did a good job depicting the outcome.

@JustJeff78 10 days ago

I grew up on the Gulf Coast, and I've brushed up against a pier one time in my life and barnacles sliced my foot so clean that I didn't even know I had been cut for several seconds, I've never done it again.

@Tony_5-hz4hl 2 weeks ago

Keel hauling - then 150 lashes and he survived that's crazy level of cruelty.

@misterCENZO 2 weeks ago

Cartels taking notes

@robtk3 2 weeks ago

Justice is difficult to apply as it's so difficult to define. But vengeance, unfortunately, comes oh so natural for so many.

@TylerRamos-h2o 2 weeks ago

It never ceases to amaze me the ways with which humans
inflict cruelty on each other

@benzoamin9897 12 days ago

Humans have six million ways to tear you apart,yet we can't cure a common cold...

@LaAlienígena 18 hours ago

As a sailor I was finding it so hard to understand your description. If anyone is wondering, the lines go under the boat from starboard to portside. Terrible. Just terrible.

@hendrsb33 2 weeks ago

Oddly enough, the first time I heard about keelhauling was from a Disney movie, "Blackbeard's Ghost" (1968). But the method of punishment wasn't described. I imagined the accused was tied and "hauled" through the water behind the ship. As an adult, once I found out what keelhauling really was, I was glad the movie didn't describe the gory details.