Descendant of Fletcher Christian dies in sinking of HMS Bounty
Ship went to sea to ride out the worst but was caught off guard by ferocity of Hurricane Sandy, almost 21 years to the day after the 'perfect storm'
The final hours of the tall ship HMS Bounty were as dramatic as the five adventure films made over the last century about the famous mutiny.
The crew abandoned ship in life rafts as their stately craft succumbed to the huge swells of Hurricane Sandy off the coast of the US state of North Carolina. The only crew member confirmed dead was a direct descendant of the mutineers' leader.
By the time the first rescue helicopter arrived, all that was visible of the replica 18th-century sailing vessel was a strobe light at the top of a submerged mast. The roiling Atlantic Ocean had claimed the rest. Coastguard helicopters pulled 14 crew from the ocean. Hours later, they located crew member Claudene Christian, who unresponsive and was later pronounced dead.
The 42- year-old from Oklahoma, who joined the crew in May, was a fifth great-granddaughter of Fletcher Christian, who led the mutiny against commander William Bligh in 1789 during a voyage from Tahiti in the South Pacific.
Rescuers were yesterday still searching for the captain, Robin Walbridge, was from St Petersburg, Florida.
The ship was a replica built for the 1962 film Mutiny on the Bounty starring Marlon Brando, and it was featured in other films over the years, including one of the Pirates of the Caribbean" movies. Another Bounty replica, built for the 1984 film version starring Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins, relocated from Sydney several years ago to Discovery Bay, to runs corporate charters.