HMS Bounty
HMS Bounty or rather, His Majesty's Armed Vessel (HMAV) Bounty was, before her purchase on May 26, 1787 by the Royal Navy of the UK and renaming, the collier Bethia, a coal-carrying merchant ship. Her only two commanders were Lt. William Bligh, RN, and the mutineer Fletcher Christian.
She was a tiny sailing ship at 215 tons, mounting only four four-pounders and ten swivels. By way of comparison, Cook's Endeavour displaced 368 tons, and Resolution 462 tons.
She was purchased for a single mission, an experiment: to travel to Tahiti, pick up breadfruit plants, and transport them to the West Indies in hopes that they would grow well there and become a cheap source of food for slaves.
In June 1787, Bounty was refitted at Deptford. The great cabin was converted to house the potted breadfruit plants, and gratings fitted to the upper deck. Her complement were 44 officers and men.
On December 23, Bounty sailed from Spithead for Tahiti. For a full month, she attempted to round Cape Horn, but adverse weather blocked her. Bligh ordered her turned about, and she proceeded east, rounding the Cape of Good Hope and crossing the width of the Indian Ocean. \Bounty raised Tahiti on October 25, 1788, after ten months at sea.
She spent five months in Tahiti, sailing again on April 4, 1789. On April 28, in the Friendly Islands, the famous mutiny put Christian in control of her; the mutineers left Bligh and 18 others to rescue themselves in her launch. The remaining crew sailed for the island of Tubuai; after three months there, they returned to Tahiti, putting 16 of the crew ashore and taking aboard 17 Tahitians.
She sailed through the Fiji and Cook islands; her new complement re-discovered Pitcairn Island, where they settled and, on January 23, 1790, burned her in what is now Bounty Bay. Her remains continue visible there into the 21st century.
General Characteristics