Mutiny on the Bounty: Bligh Cast Adrift Into History
Fletcher Christian led the mutiny aboard HMS Bounty on April 28, 1789, seizing Captain William Bligh and 18 loyal crew members and setting them adrift in a 23-foot open launch with minimal provisions. Bligh navigated 3,618 nautical miles across the open Pacific to Timor in 47 days, one of the most remarkable feats of seamanship in history. The mutineers returned to Tahiti, where some stayed while Christian and eight others, along with six Tahitian men and twelve Tahitian women, sailed to uninhabited Pitcairn Island. They burned the Bounty to avoid detection. Within four years, all but one of the men had been killed in internal conflicts. Pitcairn Island is still inhabited by descendants of the mutineers and remains a British Overseas Territory.
April 28, 1789
237 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Pitcairn Island
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Mutiny on the Bounty
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Captain (Royal Navy)
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William Bligh
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Tahiti
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Mutiny on the Bounty
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William Bligh
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Tahiti
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Pitcairn Island
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Fletcher Christian
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Gehorsamsverweigerung
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HMS Bounty
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Kupang
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Tonga
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Pitcairn Islands
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