Tom, thank you.
Only had a chance to skim read but look like a very well researched, serious study and worth the effort to read in its entirety.
Some snippets:
* punishment and crimes for which men were punished appear proportionate (in comparison with crime and punishment on land in that era)
* specific stations and particular ships do not appear to exhibit disproportionate rates of punishment - although a sailor was more likely to be punished on board smaller ship than a first rate ship of the line (perhaps less conspicuous in the latter?)
* there does not appear to be any group of seamen who were disproportionately represented in the (reported) crimes or summary punishments apart from marines - with the supposition that (possibly) officers had to be seen to take hard line with them given their role in shipboard discipline
* neither was a small proportion punished on a regular basis - the pattern appears to be something like on in ten seamen receiving punishment
* the percentage of Irishmen onboard ship has been estimated between 15% and 25% across the period under study (perhaps 10% of marines) - rising somewhat in the 19th century
* Irishmen were not (statistically) much more likely to have been recorded as punished - but perhaps the percentage of charges of drunkenness was higher amongst this group of sailors (and marines)
* marines served the guns (when required) and dressed in seamen's attire (slops) on board (although this is disputed by a more recent thesis referred to in the text)
I need to have a more detailed read, particularly distinguishing between summary punishments and those resulting from courts martial.
Recommended
Best wishes
A