Arson in royal dockyards

Dockyards etc. Protection Act 1772

Act of Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
Long title	An Act for the better securing and preserving His Majesty's Dock Yards, Magazines, Ships, Ammunition, and Stores
Citation	12 Geo. 3 c.24
Territorial extent	British Empire
Dates
Commencement	1772
Repealed	1971
Other legislation
Repealed by	Criminal Damage Act 1971
Status: Repealed

Arson in royal dockyards was a criminal offence in the United Kingdom and the British Empire. It was among the last offences that were punishable by execution in the United Kingdom. The crime was created by the Dockyards etc. Protection Act 1772 (12 Geo. 3 c.24) passed by the Parliament of Great Britain.

It remained a capital offence even after the death penalty was permanently abolished for murder in 1969. The criminal law consolidation Acts 1861 removed various capital offences from the British statute-books, leaving only five: murder, treason, espionage, "piracy with violence" (piracy with intent to kill or cause serious harm), and offences under the Dockyards, etc. Protection Act 1772. This Act set out a comprehensive list of crimes punishable by death, such as causing a fire or explosion in a naval dockyard, magazine, warehouse, or ship, until the Act was repealed by the Criminal Damage Act 1971.

The Dockyards etc. Protection Act 1772 was passed in order to protect Royal Navy ships, dockyards and stores from damage. The act was passed as ships at the time were made of flammable oak wood and tar. Punishment for violating the act was a death sentence. The first section created the offence of arson in the royal dockyards by making it an offence to burn or destroy Royal Navy ships, stores or ammunition under penalty of death anywhere in the British Empire. The Act also provided that benefit of clergy was not an available defence to the crime. The second section also stated that offenders could be tried if the offence occurred anywhere outside of the realm. The act put a version of arson in statute law for the first time as all arson previously had been under common law. The act also only applied to England and Wales as Scotland had their own separate offence of wilful fire raising. Despite the act, the only person ever executed under the act for arson in royal dockyards was the Scottish saboteur John the Painter (also known as John Aitken) in 1777 for setting the rope house at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard on fire. He was hung from the mizzenmast of HMS Arethusa, which was believed to have been the highest gallows erected in British history, at Portsmouth Royal Dockyards to show him the damage he had caused in front of approximately 20,000 people.