HMS Bounty Sinks Off North Carolina Coast

[Stynky Tudor]

It's a sad day for us all. Not just because a ship is gone that so many of us have come to love and play Pyrates on, but that two of her crew have gone missing in the storm while trying to keep this bit of history a live.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bounty_%281960_ship%29

[Captain Jim]

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_10_29/Hurricane-Sandy-sinks-HMS-Bounty/

Even the Voice of Russia has picked up the story. We've lost a very famous and popular lady. Pray they find the two missing crew.

[James Smythe]

Tis a sad day. A drink to her honor and a moment of silence.

[peglegstrick]

God speed to the two crew members who are lost....... May they be found safe

Edited October 29, 2012 by peglegstrick

[Pyrate Joe]

My heart goes out to these souls. I hope they are soon found, alive and well.

[Silver]

i visited her when she was at opsail in norfolk. the missing crew member is her captain robin, it is a sad day!

Edited October 29, 2012 by L. Silver

[Capt. Sterling]

Captain Robin Walbridge..and she would be a he.

[Captain Jim]

Fifteen now accounted for, only the Captain missing.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/10/29/hurricane-sandy-ship-abandoned-ship-coast-guard/1665339/

[Gunpowder Gertie]

Hold fast to hope for her Captain!

[Captain Jim]

http://5newsonline.com/2012/10/29/claudine-christian-missing/

Claudine Christian is reported as having died.

[Gunpowder Gertie]

She was a descendent of Fletcher Christian...

[Captain Jim]

http://www.uscgnews.com/go/doc/4007/1592231/PHOTO-RELEASE-Coast-Guard-rescues-14-recovers-1-continues-search-for-1-from-HMS-Bounty

The last two pictures we may ever see of the Bounty.

[Gunpowder Gertie]

And yet- the fact that she's wallowing at all, and hasn't slipped beneath the waves is incredible. Is it oo much to hope she may yet survive? In one pictrue her bow is still above the waves. Looks like she has sustained mast damage...but she is still battling the sea.

[Captain Jim]

According to the CG, she is gone. These are the final pictures before she slipped away.

[Gunpowder Gertie]

so that bit of hope is gone too...

[Tartan Jack]

My prayers are with the survivors, missing and the dead, and their families.

This is very, very sad news.

[Silver]

being involved with the sailing crew at jamestown i had heard about the lost of the first PRIDE OF BALTIMORE which was built in 1976 and sank on it's first trans atlantic cruise on may 14, 1986 in the caribbean, so i read the book "PIDE OF THE SEA" by tom waldron, it is a sad story and an eye opener of how things can go so wrong in a hurry at sea.

[Dutchman]

http://www.tallshipbounty.org/

we were aboard her at fells point two years ago and had a grand time playing games with the crew on shore in the camp. The captain at the time even took a cannon shot at her stern from the gun line. While under way grace was firing on the shore battery when a beautiful smoke ring came from one of the guns ashore. Everyone on board cheered as she realized I finally gave her a ring to go with her engagement cannon. (I know, I'm so romantic!) That was the same year the order of Leviathan was formed and the members were on board for photos. Anyone have any Bounty stories or photos they would like to share?

[Jas. Hook]

A sad and terrible loss.

I got the opportunity to go on board just this year when she made a stop in Newburgh N.Y.

My prayers for the missing and for the rescued crewmen.

Jas. Hook

[Coastie04]

I found a nice article about the sinking of the Bounty that doesn't universally condemn the captain for getting underway before the storm. So many of the articles and posts out there have ignorantly blamed the captain, thanks to 20/20 vision and a lack of understanding about ships. I'm not blindly agreeing with his decision, but it was a judgement call that has plenty of sound precedence. It was a bit of a gamble (as is sailing an anachronism in the first place), and ultimately he lost. The first link is to an article that might shed some light on the captain's thought process.

http://www.heraldnews.com/opinions/x1922372993/GUEST-OPINION-Bountys-crew-faced-a-dilemma-Sail-or-seek-safe-harbor

This second article definitely blames the captain for taking the risk (though is incorrect in its description of hurricane sailing tactics) and suggests that the captain wanted to save the ship so that it could be sold for $4.6 million. Of course, the ship has been for sale for years and hasn't sold yet. Of course, even if economics came in to play during the decision to sail, that's nothing new. If it was a fishing boat, there'd probably be a TV show about it. Back to this article, it is the most in depth description of what happened onboard that I have yet to see. Of special note is the engineering failures, which had been eluded to, but not in such detail. Granted, the fact that the ship was taking in so much water in the first place is not a good thing, but the pumps failing was ultimately the demise.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/legendary-ships-final-hours-battling-sandy/story?id=17849018#.UL6vhYM0XTo

[Silver]

just sad.

[Coastie04]

This is the best, most complete article that I've seen yet about what happened to the Bounty. A couple of things that I noted that might not be obvious to non-sailors are some of the preperations taken before leaving port, including taking down the topgallant masts. This not only reduces the sail area of the boat, but also lowers the center of gravity making the boat more stable. Also, many people wondered why they weren't sailing in the pictures, even after the engines had quit (me being one of those curious). This points out that they did, in fact, try to keep some sail up. I do hope that the Coast Guard investigation doesn't begin to derail many of these tall ships that do sometimes exist on a very strict budget. This article is a long read, but a very informative one.

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/Sunk-The-Incredible-Truth-About-a-Ship-That-Never-Should-Have-Sailed.html?page=all

Coastie

[Red John]

Aye, thanks for the article. The USCG hearings began in Norfolk, VA, and I hear that the owner of the Bounty plead the 5th, that being everyone's Constitutional right to not incriminate ones' self. But the First Mate apparently testified at length, and gave great detail about the discussions prior to setting sail among the crew and with the Captain and about the preparations for the trip, etc.

I can see why the owner might not want to talk - doesn't necessarily mean he's guilty of anything, but probably on the advice of his lawyers he doesn't want to say anything that other folks might try to use to sue him in court for money. I don't know for certain, but he may be facing that kind of thing already, who knows.

I don't want to second guess anyone. I lament the loss of a great ship, her captain, and crewmember. And am thankful for the ones that survived, and for my and my son's chance to stand aboard her one last time this past Summer. And God Bless the US Coast Guard rescue swimmers, aviators, and crew.

[Coastie04]

As for the owner, with a captain with the sort of reputation that Walbridge had, it would be easy to become complaisant and put too much trust that the captain would make things work. This complacency could be portrayed as negligence, even though you might be taking the advice of someone with direct knowledge of the ship's condition and vastly more experience sailing than you have. Although I do believe that the captain overestimated the condition of the ship (obvious in hindsight), with the recent overhauls and considering that the ship had survived hurricanes before in worse condition, it is easy to see how this was possible. Also, though I do believe that the captain did have a certain level of responsibility for this tragedy, as he made the decision to go to sea and the route to take (and lacking any 'act of God' circumstances), I hope that not too much blame is bestowed upon him just to find a scape goat...but we shall see...

Coastie

[Red John]

Aye, there was something came out of the hearings today, that I heard on the radio, that one of the inspectors or surveyors at the shipyard in Maine or somewhere that did some repairs on the ship this summer said the frame was rotted and that the [someone responsible - owner, captain, not sure] refused to get it fixed. I can't find a decent update on line but maybe it will be out tomorrow.

Me, while it sounds reasonable that the frame on a ship like that could be in bad shape, if it were completely rotted like the commentator was making out, I can't see anyone setting sail to certain failure that they knew would happen. I have to think it wasn't as bad as that but might have been worse than thought by whoever said don't fix it - assuming all of the story is true.

Anyway, none of the photos of the sinking show a complete structural failure, but then the 'water coming in between the planks'reported by the First Mate might have been aggravated by a poor condition frame without having a complete frame failure.

I hate getting news in bits; I look forward to the final report, or at least a summary of it all.

yours, aye-