HMS Bounty Model Sailing Ship
The HMS Bounty was originally known as Bethia, and operated as a coal carrying
merchant ship on the coast of England. She was purchased by the Admiralty and
renamed the Bounty in1787.
She was commissioned for the special mission of sailing halfway around the
world to Tahiti, collecting sapling breadfruit trees and transporting them to
the West Indies. The trees were to be a cheap source of food for the workers
on the British plantations.
Bounty left Tahiti on April 4, 1789. The famous mutiny led by Fletcher Christian
began on April 28 in the friendly islands. He and many of his followers entered
Bligh’s cabin while he was sleeping and forced him to the deck while wearing
only his nightshirt.
The ship was taken without any bloodshed, only verbal threats and strong words.
Bligh and eighteen others were launched in the Bounty’s launch while four
of the crew were held behind to man the ship with the mutineers.
With the mutiny taking place 30 nautical miles from Tofua, Bligh astonishingly
navigated the overloaded 23-foot open launch on an epic 47-day voyage, ending
in Timor. This remarkable journey of expert seamanship and navigation using
only a sextant and a pocket watch would become a legend.
Click
on image above to view!
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