It's not the original HMAV Bounty, but a pretty good replica will be in Charleston next week. I love seeing these pieces of history. If you're in the Charleston area next week, this should be a sight to see.
The story of the mutiny always makes me wonder what I would do in a similar situation.Faced with an idyllic life in Tahiti versus severe discipline on a British ship, I can certainly see the attraction of Tahiti. However, the mutiny is also a good example of "be careful what you wish for" as almost all of the mutineers eventually were killed in conflicts with the natives (and each other). Say what you will about the British discipline system, but it did have the advantage of not devolving in to a massacre.
Being a rule follower, I would have probably not joined the mutiny, and I would have ended up in the small 23' boat with Bligh. In what is probably one of the top ten feats of seamanship, Bligh sailed that little boat 3,618 nautical miles back to Timor (the Dutch East Indies) with out any maps or charts. He did it with only a sextant and a pocket-watch. Bligh may have been a harsh taskmaster, but he knew how to sail. Pretty damn impressive if you ask me.
Interesting. I may have to head South. :) Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteVice Admiral of the Blue, William Bligh R.N. F.R.S. was actually a pretty lenient Royal Navy captain in his day as compared with most other Royal Navy captains. What Captain Bligh had on board the HMAV Bounty was "officers" who failed in doing their duties as well as their captain. If you read any of the log books of Bligh's other ships, such as the HMS Providence, you will see he was by no means a "harsh taskmaster" and that on "those vessels" his officers did their duties and carried out their task as they were suppose to do. When a captain has to hand-out "written orders" to his officers to do their duties, which Captain Bligh was forced to do prior to the piratical seizure of the Bounty, it is a true reflection on the part of "those officers" to do the task for which they were to be capable of. We must remember that Captain Bligh had no marines on board the HMAV Bounty to "enforce" his orders given to his officers, both verbally and/or written. He did have marines on the HMS Providence, but their "presence" on board was just enough to remind his officers and crew of their duties.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Vice Admiral of the Blue, William Bligh, R.N. F.R.S. was a most impressive and remarkable man. Lord Nelson felt the same way about him when Bligh served under him.
David Townsend
g.g.g.g. nephew
Thomas Denman Ledward
surgeon, HMAV Bounty
My line was to read, "it is a true reflection on the part of "those officers" who "failed to do the task for which they were to be capable of."
DeleteDavid Townsend
David, thanks for stopping by the blog! Do you have any recommendations for books on the Bounty?
DeleteSo much novelists' and movie-makers' fiction has been entwined into the fabric of history that the real purpose of what Mr Townsend correctly describes as the 'piratical seizure' of HMAV (not HMS) Bounty has been ignored. The ship was not taken by legendary 'mutineers' --mutiny being the military equivalent of a civilian Strike-- but by those in a minority among the crew for entirely selfish reasons. For on Pitcairn Island it was sole-survivor Able Seaman John Adams, alias Alexander Smith, who confessed to visitors:- 'We never had any real grievance against Captain Bligh. We just wanted to return to our loved-ones on Otaheite' (Tahiti).
ReplyDeleteOh well, that's alright then, isn't? They only wanted what millions of others wanted and still want:- to cut themselves out a new life of luxury in the South Pacific, like millionaire playboys, with plenty of booze, drugs, and a ship worth
$3million, plus all the latest navigational equipment aboard to sail anywhere in the world they pleased.
It's also ignored that when these pirates leisurely cruised around the South Pacific, they kidnapped, the raped, they slaughtered over 60 Polynesian men, women and children on the island of Tubuaii where they tried and failed to set up a base before briefly returning to Tahiti. While almost half of the Bounty's former crew and 19 former shipmates were adrift, fighting for their lives on a 47 day nightmare journey of over 4000 miles in an open boat.
Would anyone today laud the pirates, say, of Somalia as heroes like Hollywood hailed the pirates of the Bounty? I think not.
Bryan,
ReplyDeleteI'm the author of the above piece, and in a rush to go into hospital, I see now that I omitted to place my name beneath the blog.
As a postscript, I hope the visit of 'HMS Bounty' to your fair shores will give visitors some idea of just how small these 18th century square-rigged sailing ships were; although it must be pointed out that the 'replica' made for the 1962 'Mutiny on the Bounty' movie is actually one-third dimensionally larger than the historic HMAV Bounty. This was deemed practical for movie-making and containing all the equipment rather than for showbiz spectacle. I went aboard the vessel some years ago when it visited Portsmouth, England.
You may recall that there is another replicated HMAV Bounty now based in the Far East. This was the one built in New Zealand for the 1984 movie 'The Bounty'. It was constructed to exact scale, and 'she' used to be in Sydney, Australia, where I once sailed her up and down the beautiful harbour. It was magic steering this fully-rigged vessel, albeit a modern copy, just like the one my great-great-great-grandfather took to Tahiti in 1788.
By the way, and if my memory serves correct, wasn't it Charleston that was once raided by pirates who plundered the town for laudanum (a tincture of raw opium and alcohol), which was high on their list of loot?
With best wishes,
Maurice Bligh
Kent, UK.