In 1797 the Royal Navy was the bedrock of British security and prosperity. It was also a cornerstone of national identity and a source of great pride to the British people. When the two main fleets responsible for defending the British Isles mutinied that spring and early-summer, therefore, it suddenly seemed as though the world had been turned upside down and old certainties could no longer be trusted. The mutinies at Spithead and the Nore were the largest in the history of the Royal Navy and marked the low point of British fortunes during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. They gave rise to intense fears and anxieties, but have largely been forgotten. It is time for a reassessment of these remarkable events and, in particular, their nature as practical processes of negotiation. The stakes were high, the exchanges were tense, and misunderstanding could prove disastrous. At their heart, the Spithead and Nore mutinies were the product of a determination on the part of the sailors to be recognised and treated as the vital public servants they knew themselves to be.