Dispersing the fleet and rejecting force

The Admiralty told Tomkinson that Cabinet was considering the pay dispute and asked him to inform the fleet. A few sailors threatened machinery damage or departure without permission, but their shipmates questioned those threats and chiefs joining the action increasingly restrained the more radical individuals. An afternoon order then sent the ships back to their home ports and ended the planned exercises. Tomkinson reported that crews had remained broadly respectful toward officers and identified the proposed 25 percent cut for ratings who joined before 1925 as the overriding grievance. He believed force would make the situation worse. Cabinet accepted his recommendations, with a warning that further disorder would receive severe punishment.