On April 28th, 1789, 12 crew members of the HMS Bounty burst into Captain Bligh’s cabin, dragged him out onto the deck of the ship, put him in a lifeboat, and set him adrift. It was the now-famous Mutiny on the Bounty. 17 other crew members elected to go with Bligh. Here’s a really interesting page devoted to this event. And here’s another very interesting page, about William Wordsworth’s connection to this event. I think they believe now that Bligh wasn’t any worse than any other sea captain – it was just that the crew had all fallen in love/lust with the Tahitian women and didn’t want to leave. Captain Bligh and the 17 men ended up sailing, in the lifeboat, for Timor – almost 4,000 miles away. It’s astonishing to contemplate what they must have gone through. But they made it. They arrived 48 days later, all alive, and intact, on the island of Timor. Extraordinary story, the whole thing. I have to admit I know most of it from the movie, but also because of my interest in Captain Cook. Don’t ask.
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Interesting follow up on Bligh – in 1805 he was appointed governor of New South Wales where, a few years later, his officers mutinied and arrested him. (He was sent back to England, acquited of any wrong-doing, and eventually became a Vice Admiral.)
Bligh was a competant commander and a brilliant navigator, but he definitely had some problems dealing with people.
Along the lines of Captain Queeg?
As my PhD dissertation clearly shows (meaning the following is my haughty opinion):
Bligh was the quintessential captain of his time (this does not mean he was the best captain, of course). An expert seaman, and a by-the-book disciplinarian. At that time, seaman were assumed to be at the lowest rungs of Maslow’s hierarchy. Simple rewards (grog) and harsh punishment were par for the course. You were promoted based on your seamanship ability, not on your leadership (the way we view it in this century) ability.
Queeg (having the unfortunate situation of being a fictional character) had the worst of both skills a strict by-the-book mentality (read no leadership and no people skills) with poor seamanship (remember his mutiny occurred during a moment of indecision that threatened the ship).
I think the better analogy to Bligh, is the character played by Gene Hackman in Crimson Tide.
JFH – hahahaha
That is, indeed, one of my problems. Movies and fictional characters, at times, seem FAR more real than any actual boring real-life person.
Did you know that Humphrey Bogart based his performance on his second wife “Mayo” – I think she was his second wife. A failed actress, a raging drunk, and a paranoid manic-depressive personality.
Anyway, back to reality.
So if Bligh was no worse than any other commanders, why the mutiny?
Dang, I KNEW you were going to ask me that and I’m not the best qualified of your readers to answer that. (Read cop-out).
Slightly on topic, have you ever read about the Somers Incident and Midshipman Philip Spencer… Many cite this as the driving force to create the United States Naval Academy. Of course, executing the Secretary of War’s son might have some repercussions.
Well, I’m no expert – but I have read a couple books on Captain Cook, and about the first glimpse the sailors got of bare-breasted Tahitian women – and how they thought it was paradise, yadda yadda – and I know there is some speculation that the sailors on the Bounty flat out did not want to leave paradise and so they booted Bligh off the boat. But again, I have no idea.
I think the delights of Tahiti certainly had something to do with it.
Speaking of the blur between Literature and Real Life, I have to confess that at least some of what I know about Bligh comes from reading Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin novels, especially Desolation Island. But O’Brian was a very scrupulous researcher and I’ve never seen one of his historical assertions undermined by either the source documents or real histories, so I’m prepared to take on faith his assertion that Bligh’s was an unusually difficult personality to deal with. This is also backed up by the fact that it wasn’t just some hands that mutinied, but officers as well. Ditto with the New South Wales mutiny, which was of senior government officials.
Sheila, damn you for feeding my procrastination this morning. I’ve now spent an hour reading about the Bounty. Lord.
So out of the 250 books to read about it, can you narrow it down to one? Two? The amount scares me…is there a definitive book about it? Do tell.
Cousin Mike – hahaha!!
I actually am not a Bounty afficianado – but maybe someone here is and can lead you towards “the” book to read.
Anyone? Anyone?
There is also the fact that it wasn’t HMS. Bounty wasn’t large enough to be rated as a sloop or ship. She is properly referred to as HMAV (His Majesty’s Armed Vessel) Bounty.
I’m such a nitpicker.
Bill – can you recommend some good books about this event for my cousin Mike???
Oh, and all the websites I saw today said “HMS”. Sadly, I have been blithely passing on information.
Anyway – any book recs from any of you?
How about … Mutiny on the Bounty?
I read The Caine Mutiny when I was in high school, and reread it again a few years ago. It was amazing to me to see how my attitude changed towards the people in that book and the way they handled things. When I was a kid I thought the lawyer was a real jerk for throwing his drink in his client’s face (or whatever he did) at the victory party, but as an adult I understood and approved.
Re;
Sheila
Hi !
Interesting BOUNTY TRIVIA-Classic Film Actor Errol Flynn was a direct descendent of BOUNTY mutiny leader Fletcher Christian.
I don`t have any books to reccomend but I enjoyed Anthony Hopkins portrayal of Bligh in the film THE BOUNTY.
Lorraine
Re;
Sheila;
Hi !
In the film THE BOUNTY with Anthony Hopkins as Bligh, great emphasis was put on the fact that when the ship reached Tahiti, the crew was overwhelmed by the beauty of the Island and the people and did not want to leave.Hopkins portrayed Bligh as strict but fair minded.