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.
Thousands, no millions of historical incidents in which the
unrehearsed, momentary decisions of human beings impact the lives of countless
more of their species.
And one cannot help but ask,
“Where was God in all this?”
I am reminded of the fictional Forrest Gump, and his considered musing
on the topic; (which, by the way, is as studied an observation as I have ever
heard).
I don’t know if Momma was right or if, if it’s Lieutenant Dan. I don’t
know if we each have a destiny, or if we’re all floating around accidental-like
on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it’s both. Maybe both is happening at the same
time.
And who can forget the closing scene of that infamous classic?
The background music and that feather caught up by a gust of wind, and
wafted into the atmosphere; until the last note of the instrumental reaches its
crescendo, and the approaching feather blots out what remains of the light in
the theater.
Almost until his dying day, my father remained cynical about the
seemingly unfair circumstances of life. (Almost, but I will save that
revelation for another time).
The starving children in Ethiopia. Wars in Syria and Afghanistan, and
the masses so horribly effected. The loss of the World Trade Towers, the
downing of Flight 93, and the subsequent terrorist attack on the Pentagon.
The seemingly happenstantial.
And yet, for one who loves and is altogether taken up with
God; the altogether Providential. While I cannot begin to explain those awful,
random and sometimes callous acts which so hideously impact mankind, I am
persuaded that God can, and perhaps one day
…will.
by William McDonald, PhD. Copyright pending, 2018If you wish to copy, share or save, please include the credit line, above
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