BOUNTY (EX-BETHIA) - GB: 1784

[imageright|BOUNTY (EX-BETHIA)|{UP}BOUNTY (EX-BETHIA)/069A.jpg]''Bounty'' began as the merchant vessel ''Bethia'', a ship-rigged craft of 220t, built in the port of Hull in 1784; three years later the Admiralty purchased her. English merchants had made vast investments in slave-tended plantations in the West Indies, and voyages to the South Pacific had shown that the breadfruit grown in the Society Islands could be the ideal food to keep slaves well nourished cheaply. Under her commander, Lieutenant William Bligh, ''Bounty’s'' task was to transport breadfruit plants from the South Pacific to the Caribbean. Ventilated with gratings and scuttles, she duly loaded at Tahiti, where her crew revelled in the easy-going life. On the way back, on 28 April 1789, the crew mutinied under the leadership of Fletcher Christian. The captain and the loyal men were set adrift in the ship’s launch. ''Bounty'' was sailed by the mutineers to Pitcairn Island and burned with her thousand breadfruit plants.

'''Length''': 91ft (27.7m)

'''Beam''': 24ft 4in (7.5m)

'''Depth''': 11ft 4in (3.5m)

'''Displacement''': 220t

'''Rigging''': three masts; square rig

'''Armament''': four guns

'''Complement''': 45

'''Routes''': South Pacific–Caribbean

'''Pictured: Bligh made a remarkable voyage with the 19 men in the ''Bounty’s'' 23ft (7m) launch, sailing 3600 miles (5800km) to the Dutch settlement of Timor.'''