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 About
Captain Bligh's famous voyage
After the mutiny aboard the HMS Bounty, Captain Bligh
and 18 other loyal men were cast adrift in a 23 foot open
boat with enough food and water for five days.
They eventually made the
longest voyage in maritime history in an open boat (3,618
miles) in 48 days, landing in Timor in June 1789. This
historic voyage was wholly due to Captain Bligh's
seamanship. With only starvation rations, a sextant
and compass, but no charts, the barest amount of water and
no protection from the elements he didn't lose a man at sea.
The only death out of the 19 original castaways was John
Norton who was killed by natives on a small Pacific island
where the sailors had landed to get water and any supplies
they could. Norton was the last man into the boat and
therefore was supposed to bring the anchor off the beach.
Because of the imminent attack Bligh ordered him to leave
the all important anchor, but the loyal Norton brought the
anchor to the boat as he was being clubbed and stabbed to
death by the angry natives.
An account of this remarkable voyage can be found in Men
Against the Sea |
