# Could You Survive "Keelhauling"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 5, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209 "2008-03-05T17:52:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/1 "2008-03-05T17:52:38Z")
It is hard for me to accept just how cruel our ancestors could be. this bizarre punishment-could anyone actually survive it? I expect that you would be underwater for more tha 5 minutes-so you would drown. But if you managed to hold your breath, would your skin be scraped off by the barnacles on the hull? Anyway, having survived this-was there worse in store for you? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/2 "2008-03-05T17:55:27Z")
AFAIK, you were supposed to survive keelhauling. It was just another form of corporal punishment. [Cecil weighs in:](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_239.html) > [@](#): > > Keelhauling was meted out to sailors for minor infractions at sea. Typically the victim was tied to a rope looped beneath the vessel, thrown overboard, and then dragged under the keel and up the other side. Since the keel was usually encrusted with barnacles and other crud the guy’s hide would be scraped raw and he’d think twice about doing whatever it was he’d gotten keelhauled for again. Sometimes they heaped chains and such on him to add injury to insult. Sure sounds like the guy is expected to live to me. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/3 "2008-03-05T17:57:37Z")
Everybody who can’t hear the term “keel-haul” without thinking of a _Far Side_ cartoon, raise your hand. :raises hand: ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/4 "2008-03-05T17:58:45Z")
Maybe you’re not visualizing past ships as small as they actually were. We’re not talking cruise liners, here, or aircraft carriers. And on a sailing ship, the men were accustomed to pulling on ropes quickly. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/5 "2008-03-05T20:23:36Z")
If the Captain wanted you dead, you would be “hung from the yardarm”. A sailing ship’s rigging made quite an effective gallows. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/6 "2008-03-05T20:34:17Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] Everybody who can’t hear the term “keel-haul” without thinking of a _Far Side_ cartoon, raise your hand. :raises hand: [/QUOTE] A certain height-challenged Looney Tunes character comes to mind for me. Now the next question is whether someone can survive tarring and feathering… ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/7 "2008-03-05T20:35:49Z")
I recall reading somewhere (can’t for the life remember where) that you could also be keelhauled the _length_ of the ship if you were exceptionally naughty. This did often result in death. ---
**Author:** ![Mongo\_Ponton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Mongo\_Ponton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mongo_Ponton)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/8 "2008-03-05T23:04:38Z")
I believe the odds were much better in salt water than brackish or fresh. I don’t know if they took that into account. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/9 "2008-03-05T23:06:49Z")
How’d they pull you under with just a rope? Maybe I’m not getting it. You were tied to one end of the rope, they held the other…so how do they get you under and across? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/10 "2008-03-05T23:13:02Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Slit] How’d they pull you under with just a rope? Maybe I’m not getting it. You were tied to one end of the rope, they held the other…so how do they get you under and across? [/QUOTE] You’re tied to one end at one side of the boat, they hold the other, then they pay out the rope as they walk it around to the bow and then to the other side. Now they have you at one end, them at the other, and the bottom of the boat in between. That’s how I see it in my mind, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/11 "2008-03-05T23:16:50Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Slit] How’d they pull you under with just a rope? Maybe I’m not getting it. You were tied to one end of the rope, they held the other…so how do they get you under and across? [/QUOTE] Imagine a long rope with the victim tied at the midpoint. Two groups of sailors hold each end of the rope while standing at the sides of the boat, towards the front. Victim jumps (or is pushed) off the bow and the two sets of sailors begin to walk astern. Victim is thus dragged along the bottom of the boat, being hauled under the keel from stern to bow. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/12 "2008-03-05T23:20:19Z")
I see I had it … well, not backwards … perpendicular. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/13 "2008-03-06T00:59:05Z")
[QUOTE=Valgard] Imagine a long rope with the victim tied at the midpoint. Two groups of sailors hold each end of the rope while standing at the sides of the boat, towards the front. Victim jumps (or is pushed) off the bow and the two sets of sailors begin to walk astern. Victim is thus dragged along the bottom of the boat, being hauled under the keel from stern to bow. [/QUOTE] That’s not how I understood it to work. I thought you would take a rope looped from the bow and walk it to the mid point of the ship (amidships since we want to get all nautical and all :)). Then with a team of sailors located at the port and starboard you would tie your miscreant up and have the opposite team haul him over the rail, under down the ship side, under the boat and up the opposite side. What you are describing would be pretty extreme on a large vessel and wouldn’t be very easy to accomplish with all the rigging and such in the way. I seriously doubt anyone would survive being hauled the length of a man of war…and even a smaller ship would be pretty rough. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/14 "2008-03-06T01:21:52Z")
Cecil (quoted above) and Wiki (with a picture) both say it was across rather than lengthwise. > [@](#): > > **wiki** > The sailor was tied to a rope that looped beneath the vessel, thrown overboard on one side of the ship, and dragged under the ship’s keel to the other side. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/15 "2008-03-06T02:30:07Z")
Depends. If you were pulled you up quickly enough, you’d survive with some pretty bad back injuries–not as bad as what the cat o’ nine tails would give you, though. If not, you could drown. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/16 "2008-03-06T03:21:53Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] Everybody who can’t hear the term “keel-haul” without thinking of a _Far Side_ cartoon, raise your hand. [/QUOTE] I’m not familiar with that one. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/17 "2008-03-06T03:26:47Z")
[QUOTE=xtisme] That’s not how I understood it to work. I thought you would take a rope looped from the bow and walk it to the mid point of the ship (amidships since we want to get all nautical and all :)). Then with a team of sailors located at the port and starboard you would tie your miscreant up and have the opposite team haul him over the rail, under down the ship side, under the boat and up the opposite side. What you are describing would be pretty extreme on a large vessel and wouldn’t be very easy to accomplish with all the rigging and such in the way. I seriously doubt anyone would survive being hauled the length of a man of war…and even a smaller ship would be pretty rough. -XT [/QUOTE] Entirely possible; my primary cite is that mighty reference work, “Mutiny On The Bounty” which showed it being done from bow to stern. 😃 Regardless of whether it was done front to back or side to side the mechanics are pretty much the same. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/18 "2008-03-06T03:30:49Z")
[QUOTE=Valgard] Entirely possible; my primary cite is that mighty reference work, “Mutiny On The Bounty” which showed it being done from bow to stern. 😃 Regardless of whether it was done front to back or side to side the mechanics are pretty much the same. [/QUOTE] Actually, the mechanics are quite different. After all, you don’t just have someone at the stern and someone at the bow and they walk from one side to the other, etc. No, you have a rope that is looped under the keel. The victim is attached to the rope. He is tossed off the one side, and the other sailors haul on the other end of the rope, pulling him under the keel and up the other side. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/19 "2008-03-06T03:35:18Z")
Another factor to remember - the draft which would be a measure of how far under the water, the keelhauled miscreant was pulled during the punishment is a lot less than one might think, looking at the sail plans of those old ships. Finding a web reference that included draft for a nominal ship of the era is hard. I chose to look for a brig, since they were work horse hulls that could be found in almost any field of use. The first (and only) data that I could find for a brig’s draft comes from this site about the Battle of Lake Erie, and specifically about the [Brig _Niagara_](http://www.nps.gov/archive/pevi/HTML/Niagara.html). Granted she is a war ship, not a general use brig, but I figure the draft and beam numbers are at least a useful starting point. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209/20 "2008-03-06T05:11:08Z")
Ooohhh… granted, not so much draft as all that. Granted, your shipmates would be pulling you through smartly - they want it to hurt, not otherwise keep you off duty for too long. Granted, it wouldn’t be bare barnacles; some of them at least would be covered with muck. Granted, it would probably be in the ocean where the cold saltwater would act as a slight pain killer and astringent. Still. As you’re going down, seems to me that your bouyancy and the direction of the hauling line are definitely keeping you against the boat bottom. Argh. And what I can’t quite get my head around is deciding how much fun it must be to get pulled across the keelboard. Gotta hurt, that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-survive-keelhauling/440209.md?page=2)