HMS Bounty sunk

[short 215]

After losing power to run a bilge pump the HMS Bounty sank during the Hurricane Sandy.

 

My sympathy goes out to the crew and the member still missing.

 

But how is it that a copy of a ship that managed to round Cape Horn ended up sinking because of the loss of a bilge pump?

 

Something that really concerns me is that with all of the modern electric devices, we loose basic skills. I think Captain Bligh and Mister Christian would have come together to save this ship.

 

 

Of course, who knows what would have happened after they arrived in Pattaya to pick up some Mango plants.

[biggles 509]

didnt the original have problems with the crew when they got to hawaii... no one wanted to leave. !!

[JohnnyK 28]

Apparently they sailed right into the storm and of course a sailing ship could not hope to outrun the storm. This was no ordinary storm and they would have to keep well out to sea to avoid being run ashore.

Sad to see her go, she was hand-built for the Brando film in Lunenburg, NS, Canada. Some of the shipwrights are still alive and two were on our national TV news last night.

The woman who died after being rescued was said to have been a direct descendant of Fletcher Christian.

Edited October 30, 2012 by JohnnyK

[LocalYokul 177]

I wonder WTF they were doing out there. They must have heard the news of the storm coming.

[jacko 8,778]

didnt the original have problems with the crew when they got to hawaii... no one wanted to leave. !!

Tahiti perhaps.

[Mick2 11]

I am not sure that Bligh and Christian could have saved The Bounty from the ravages of Sandy. That was some storm. A lot of ships did go down in the "good old days".

 

I had a look around The Bounty a few years back. It was an impressive piece of work. Sad to see it gone.

[yorta2 686]

Sad too hear - not only for the loss of lives, but for the fine ship too.

[LocalYokul 177]

yeah, too sad to hear.

[dennismoore 8]

Very sad news.

 

The HMS Bounty was in port of my hometown during a festival a few years back. A beautiful ship with a nice crew.

Edited November 1, 2012 by dennismoore

[jballstate 326]

It seems like every time we have a hurricane or serious storm off of the Atlantic Coast a sailing vessel ends up in trouble off of the coasts of Virginia or North Carolina. In most cases the skippers of these vessels have elected to go into harms way as this storm was well advertised in advance. They could have easily been safe in port rather than sailing directly into this storm. This was a very poor decision on the part of the skipper who ended up loosing his life in this event. I have seen this happen too many times, usually with sailing vessels much smaller than the Bounty.

 

It also put the lives of the US Coast Guard rescue helo in grave danger to preform this rescue. The rescue swimmer in this crew had to jump into 30 foot seas and swim to the life rafts in order to hoist the crew up into the helo. This rescue was very close to being impossible but a brave coast guard crew pulled it off.

[tomcat76 327]

I have no idea what all the facts were in this case, but quite often ships will weigh anchor and leave port to avoid an approaching storm. Even the Navy in Norfolk has gotten itself underway to avoid stuff like this (not sure what was done in this case, but it can probably be googled). NOT always safer in port if it's in the path of a bad storm. This storm involved a lot of predicted surge, so I'm thinking ships that could sortie DID sortie. As for Bounty, no idea, but I wouldn't want to armchair quarterback it. She was already underway from Connecticut to Florida I believe. Maybe they thought they could outrun it and simply underestimated. Pierside somewhere they possibly figured she'd be toast (and that might've been true).

[Feileacan 32]

“The Lonesome Boatman: Silent Annie” - The Fureys

 

I saw which nearly broke my heart

A tramp lay dying a park

I knelt beside him to hear him speak

The words he spoke they were oh so weak

 

He told me a story of long since past

Of his sailing ship, with it’s long grey mast

Of his Captain’s cap, with it’s shining braid

And the wonderfull voyages that he made

 

Silent Annie was his great ships name

Like a token of love, he spoke her name

She sailed round the horn, ay’e more than once

She could cut through the waves, like a sharpened lance

 

Believe me he said, his eyes filled with tears

Like a drunk on a corner, trying to remember his years

He reached out his hand and I took it in mine

I believe you I said and he gave a sad smile

 

I remember the day when they towed her away

Her sides they were sore from the sea’s angered spray

They said she’s unfit for to sail out once more

And they towed her more windward from her own sandyshore

 

And as they broke my Silent Annie, I watched with a sigh

I remembered her beauty, when I was a boy

She was my one love, my life’s only dream

When we sailed out together, as Captain and Queen

 

It started to drizzle and I felt my hand tight

And he squeezed even harder as he ended the fight

And the crowd they had gathered and they watched with dismay

Then some ambulance men came and they took him away

 

So I got to my feet and I walked through that park

The sun it was gone, but it was not yet dark

My body was wet, my clothes were not many

But my mind was aroused, by the ship Silent Annie

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3cl7Q2GI50

[WeezinGeezer 2]

The original had two or three times the number of crew. Back then the bilge pumps were manually driven. If they went out, it was bucket brigade time. Just no way to say had they sailed further east they might have survived.

[jballstate 326]

The crew was unaware of the pending storm when they left port. They learned of the hurricane when the captain called a meeting of all hands on deck and advised them of the hurricane. He offered to put anyone ashore that wanted to leave the ship but all hands had faith in the captain's judgement and elected to stay aboard. The captain has boasted previously on public TV about going through 2 hurricanes in the past with the ship and figured he could skirt around the storm. Other tall ship operators on the east coast said they could not believe that he elected to take his ship into this storm. On stated that this storm was a "no brainer" and there is no way he would have gone to sea in it.

 

The Bounty was a 50 yr. old wooden vessel and unlike a steel navel vessel a wooden vessel "works" quite a bit in heavy seas. A steel vessel is a single unit with welded construction where a wooden vessel is many boards joined togather by screws and other fastners and the various componants move about in a heavy storm. The vessel had been having problems with the engines and the generator prior to this trip. It's a good chance a board in the hull opened up causing flooding which could not be controlled once the generator quit. With the engines not operating they probably got sideways in the seas and were hit by a large wave which rolled the vessel over. The CG is investigating the accident and more facts will come out of this investigation. In my opinion it was reckless to take this vessel into this large storm. The national weather service put out plenty of warning information that should have been heeded. He should have never left New London, Ct. and should have at least gone into the Chesapeake Bay entrance to get out of the storms path.