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From the logbook of the HMS Bounty.
UK
National Archives
Mutiny of the Bounty 1789
The HMS Bounty was an English transport and discovery
vessel.
The ship left Spithead on December 23, 1787, direction South Seas.
The Bounty anchored at the shores of
Tahiti on October 26, 1788, and remained there for more than five
months. Their mission was to collect breadfruit plants and to take them to the West Indies, where they would be
planted to provide cheap food for the slaves.
The crew had a blast ashore.
On April 4, 1789, the Bounty set sail
for the West Indies.
On April 28, 1789, discrepancies between
Captain William Bligh
and his crew, led by first mate Fletcher Christian,
erupted. Mutiny
situation.
Bligh and 18 crew members
were put in one of the lifeboats and set adrift. Amazingly, these guys
managed to survive a 7 week and 3,600 mile trip to Timor, where they arrived on June 14, 1789. From Timor, they took a ship back to
England.
At home, Bligh reported dutifully and
the Crown sent
after the mutineers. Three were executed. The others couldn't be
found because they hid on Pitcairn Island. You are welcome to visit the
mutineers' descendants on Pitcairn Island today.
Map Location
Pitcairn Islands
Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
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