THE SINKING OF THE HMS BOUNTY

I was 13 at the time, “Mutiny on the Bounty” (1962) was released; that classic old story of the HMS Bounty starring Marlon Brando, (Fletcher Christian) and Trevor Howard, (Captain Bligh). I recall having accompanied a friend of mine and his mother to our local drive-in theater; one of the few occasions when I opted for an outdoor vs. an indoor movie.

Since then, the age of drive-in theaters has passed with a scant few remaining among our 50 states. (On a symmetrical note, I’m glad my 13 year old grandson has been afforded the opportunity to see what the experience is like, as he often attends the only drive-in theater within a hundred miles of our location).

As “Mutiny on the Bounty” was in the process of being made, it came to Marlon Brando’s attention that the production company planned to set the ship ablaze once filming was completed. Well, if you know anything about Marlon Brando, and his propensity for having had it his own way, that just wouldn’t do. As the result of his newfound knowledge, Brando refused to continue, unless assured that after completion of the movie, the ship would be spared the torch. As you might imagine, he got his way, and the tall-masted, wooden ship was not only spared, but was featured in two additional movies.

I recall visiting the HMS Bounty at its winter home in St. Petersburg, Florida during the period of time when I was in the Air Force, and stationed in Tampa. 180 feet, and wooden in construction, it was not particularly impressive when compared with the 1000+ foot naval aircraft carrier of today. But no one ever denied, it was distinctive, and a relic of a bygone era.

As time progressed, the Bounty was used as a masted training vessel, and a large number of young and not so young people metamorphosed from ‘land lubbers’ to veteran sailors on the ship. Captain Robin Walbridge was justifiably proud of his vessel, and conscientious about the training he provided his initially rather ‘green’ crew. (I expect there were times when this color more aptly described their response to the thrashing sea, than their tenure aboard the vessel). 

During the 2012 hurricane season, and as the minimal Hurricane Sandy approached the northeast coastline of the United States,  it was decided that the HMS Bounty would depart its current port in Connecticut and set sail for Florida.

Initially, Captain Walbridge determined to sail east of the hybrid storm; not only a hurricane, but a nor’easter. However, as the ship’s commander made his way towards Florida, he decided to lay in a new course to take advantage of the speed and momentum of the hurricane, and provide for a faster voyage. His decision was nothing less than fateful for the sixteen crewmen aboard; most especially for the captain, and the beautiful Claudene Christian; a 42 year old member of the crew, and a direct descendant of the historical Fletcher Christian, the British mutineer of the original HMS Bounty.

As you might well suppose, based on my previous implication, rather than avoiding the storm, while at the same time harvesting the inestimable power of it, the Bounty crossed directly into the path of Hurricane Sandy. And while the ship had weathered fiercer winds and waves in the past, it was as if the fifty year old vessel was simply ready to ‘give up the ghost,’ and it began to take on water.

Of course, this facsimile of the original HMS Bounty had instrumentation and life saving measures onboard which did not exist during Revolutionary times; including GPS equipment, a radio set, durable life rafts and water survival suits. These innovations ultimately led to the salvation of the majority of the crew. For having been located, one by one they were hoisted onto Coast Guard helicopters.

The captain was last seen on the sub-deck of the Bounty. Members of his crew have suggested that in his attempt to get them off the floundering vessel, he became entangled in the ropes and lines which controlled the great masts, and he went down with his ship; (a sometimes literary and sometimes literal fate which has so often been assigned a captain of the world’s great ships).

Claudene Christian, the great great (etc.) granddaughter of the First Mate of the original HMS Bounty, was discovered wrapped up in her orange survival suit; 8 miles from the scene of the sinking. It is not clear whether rescuers discovered any waning signs of life, though she was unresponsive to resuscitation.

It is curious to me that, as a direct result of the ancient ultimatum of one of the original occupants of the ship, that at the completion of filming the Bounty be spared, that two later inhabitants of the ship…weren’t.

Granted, the entire saga was geometrically more complicated than all that, and Marlon Brando’s worthy agenda cannot be condemned. A Coast Guard investigation levied much of the blame on Captain Walbridge, first for his decision to sail too close to the storm, and secondly for the time which elapsed between the Bounty taking on water, and his decision to abandon ship. 

Sadly, there are multiplied thousands of momentary decisions of human beings which have impacted the lives of countless more of their species.

by William McDonald, PhD. Copyright pending

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