William Bligh
Personal Information
Description
William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was a Royal Navy vice-admiral and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New South Wales from 1806 to 1808. He is best known for his role in the mutiny on HMS Bounty, which occurred in 1789 when the ship was under his command. The reasons behind the mutiny continue to be debated. After being set adrift in Bounty's launch by the mutineers, Bligh and those loyal to him stopped for supplies on Tofua, losing one man to native attacks. Bligh and his men reached Timor alive, after a journey of 3,618 nautical miles (6,700 km; 4,160 mi).
Books
Mutiny on the Bounty
The mutiny on HMS Bounty, in the South Pacific on 28 April 1789, is one of history's truly great stories - a tale of human drama, intrigue and adventure of the highest order - and in the hands of Peter FitzSimons it comes to life as never before. Commissioned by the Royal Navy to collect breadfruit plants from Tahiti and take them to the West Indies, the Bounty's crew found themselves in a tropical paradise. Five months later, they did not want to leave. Under the leadership of Fletcher Christian most of the crew mutinied soon after sailing from Tahiti, setting Captain William Bligh and 18 loyal crewmen adrift in a small open boat. In one of history's great feats of seamanship, Bligh navigated this tiny vessel for 3618 nautical miles to Timor. Fletcher Christian and the mutineers sailed back to Tahiti, where most remained and were later tried for mutiny. But Christian, along with eight fellow mutineers and some Tahitian men and women, sailed off into the unknown, eventually discovering the isolated Pitcairn Island - at the time not even marked on British maps - and settling there. This astonishing story is historical adventure at its very best, encompassing the mutiny, Bligh's monumental achievement in navigating to safety, and Fletcher Christian and the mutineers' own epic journey from the sensual paradise of Tahiti to the outpost of Pitcairn Island. The mutineers' descendants live on Pitcairn to this day, amid swirling stories and rumours of past sexual transgressions and present-day repercussions. MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY is a sprawling, dramatic tale of intrigue, bravery and sheer boldness, told with the accuracy of historical detail and total command of story that are Peter FitzSimons' trademarks.
The Mutiny on Board H.M.S. Bounty
Captain William Bligh recounts his experiences in 1789 when his ship "Bounty" was taken over in a mutiny and he and a crew of eighteen men were set adrift in an open boat in the southern Pacific Ocean.
Mutiny on Board the H.M.S. Bounty
Captain William Bligh recorded the most famous mutiny in sea history when a group of his men forced him from his ship and cast him adrift into the sea. Sail with Captian Bligh, on the Bounty, and then follow his incredible quest for survival when cast adrift.
The Bounty mutiny
"While the full story of what drove the men to revolt or what really transpired during the struggle may never be known, Penguin Classics has brought together - for the first time in one volume - all the relevant texts and documents related to a drama that has fascinated generations. Here are the full text of Bligh's Narrative of the Mutiny, the minutes of the court proceedings gathered by Edward Christian in an effort to clear his brother's name, and the highly polemic correspondence between Bligh and Christian - all amplified by Robert Madison's introduction and selection of subsequent Bounty narratives."--BOOK JACKET.