Yes , you are absolutly correct they did .
The sayings :- Has the cat got your tonge , so small you couldn't swing a cat all originate from the cat o'nine tails.
:why:
There is a school of thought that thinks that the swing a cat expression is more to do with the Whitby Cat, a coal and timber carrying boat, than a cat of nine tails. The colliers had to load and unload in harbours that were quite small, and some were to small to allow the Whitby cat to turn on their anchor, when it came time to leave, and had to be swung by hand, others were too small even for that and they became know as places where it was too small to swing a cat.
Flogging had to be, by the Naval Discipline Act carried out either on gratings, lashed to the main mast or hung from the riggings on deck, so there would be few boats with decks too small to swing a cat of nine tails or even the thiefs cat.