LECTURE - "Mutiny on the Bounty"

The Mutiny on the Bounty history is most famous true story naval rebellion. It is about the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty, which occurred in the South Pacific Ocean (30 miles from Tonga, where we are) on April 28, 1789 after the ship had left England to collect 1,000 saplings of breadfruit plants in Tahiti. The goal was to transport them to the West Indies as a cheap food source for enslaved people.

The issue was that after 5 months of “playing” in Tahiti, the crew got back on the ship and did not want to listen to Captain Bligh. Led by Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, the mutineers seized control of HMS Bounty forcing Captain Bligh and 18 loyalists into in a small 23’ row boat to drift out at sea and die. Bligh navigated the row boat 3600 miles across the Pacific reaching Timor (in modern Indonesia) on June 14, 1789.

Some of the mutineers returned to Tahiti and were captured when the HMS Pandora was sent to find them (14 imprisoned in a makeshift cage on deck (Pandoras Box). On the return journey, the Pandora struck a reef and sank losing half their crew. Four prisoners drowned and 10 survivors reached England for a court martial where 4 were acquitted, 3 were pardoned, and 3 were hung.

Fletcher Christian and 8 other mutineers (along with a group of Tahitians) sailed to the remote Pitcairn Island (2 square miles) to live. Pitcairn was put on maps at the wrong longitude so it could not be found again by England. To avoid detection by the Royal Navy, the mutineers stripped the ship and burned it. On Pitcairn there were 9 settlements as the land was split up (plus 4 of them got no land) which created many ongoing fights over land. The dark and violent early years of the settlement, included a 1793 uprising where Fletcher Christian was killed, and the eventually peaceful community led by John Adams from year 2 onwards. The Pitcairn settlement remained hidden until 1808 when the one remaining mutineer, John Adams, was left. Adams adopted a peaceful, religious lifestyle, educating the women and children (40 people were on the island) using the ship's Bible. Due to his reformation, he was granted amnesty and lived on the island for his remaining 21 years.

Today, an official British Overseas Territory, this is home to just 35 to 50 residents (all residents are direct descendants of the 9 Bounty mutineers and the Tahitian women who accompanied them). Pitcairn is one of the most remote places on Earth, with no airport and no safe natural harbor. The only way to get there is to fly to Tahiti, then fly to Mangareva, followed by a 32-hour sea crossing aboard the supply ship MV Silver Supporter. Visitors are met in open water and transferred to shore via traditional longboats. They stay in homestays with local families, providing an immersive experience of island life. The island is the world's smallest democracy with the British Governor is based in Wellington, New Zealand. The island generates income through the sale of highly collectable postage stamps, high-quality honey, and handcrafted curios sold to passing ships and visitors. So Captain Bligh eventually made it back to England and Captained another ship on future breadfruit delivery missions to the Caribbean!

The event has inspired numerous books and films, most notably the 1932 novel Mutiny on the Bounty and its 3 films, It’s strange that most of us think of Captain Bligh as a “bad guy” when history shows Captain Cook was much worse to his crew. I think he gets this “raw deal” from the 3 movies or from the families of the mutineers.

In addition, we also did sing out loud, a future voyage presentation, another Martini Brothers show and a lot of final prep for Passover night #2 (which was also today).Read more