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British armed transport ship remembered for the mutiny of its crew on April 28, 1789. Commanded by Capt. William Bligh, it had sailed to Tahiti, taken on a cargo of breadfruit trees, and traveled as far as the Friendly Islands (Tonga) on the voyage to Jamaica when it was seized by the master's mate, Fletcher Christian. The causes have been much debated; Bligh's opponents charged him with tyranny, while Bligh argued that the mutineers had become attached to Tahiti and its women. Bligh and 18 loyal crew members were set adrift in a longboat; after a voyage of more than two months and some 3,600 mi (5,800 km), they reached Timor. Christian and eight others took the Bounty to Pitcairn Island, where the small colony they founded remained undiscovered until 1808 and where their descendants still live. Of the mutineers who later went to Tahiti, three were taken to Britain and hanged.

For more information on HMS Bounty, visit Britannica.com.

 
 
British naval vessel, a 220-ton (200-metric-ton), 85-ft (26-m) cutter, commanded by William Bligh. She set sail for the Pacific in Dec., 1787, to transport breadfruit trees from the Society Islands to the West Indies. On Apr. 28, 1789, the ship's mate, Fletcher Christian, led a successful mutiny against Bligh. The captain and 18 of his crew were set adrift in the Bounty's 23-ft (7-m) open launch. By remarkable seamanship they went 3,618 mi (5,822 km) in 48 days, reached Timor in June, and proceeded to England. Some of the mutineers were later captured and court-martialed in England; three were executed. Other mutineers under Christian, along with Tahitian women, landed at Pitcairn Island, burned the Bounty, and founded a colony where all but one were subsequently murdered by their servants. The mutineers' descendants continue to live on the island, where the Bounty's remains were found in 1957.

Bibliography

See A. McKee, H.M.S. Bounty (1961); J. Barrow, The Mutiny of the Bounty (1989); S. McKinney, A True Account of Mutiny Aboard His Majesty's Ship Bounty (1989); C. Alexander, The Bounty (2003).


 
 

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more

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