1789 – Mutiny on the Bounty, Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors are set adrift and the rebel crew returns to Tahiti briefly and then sets sail for Pitcairn Island.
1862 – American Civil War: Admiral David Farragut captures New Orleans, Louisiana, and the Feds have been taking care of the place ever since…
1945 – Benito Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci are executed by a firing squad consisting of members of the Italian resistance movement who became exceedingly brave once the Allies were on the peninsula and the Germans were on the run.
1947 – Thor Heyerdahl and five crew mates set out from Peru on the Kon-Tiki to prove that Peruvian natives could have settled Polynesia. I’ve read and re-read this story. It’s a classic tale of men against the sea.
1952 – Dwight D. Eisenhower resigns as Supreme Commander of NATO. He’s headed for the Presidency of the United States.
1996 – In Tasmania, Australia, Martin Bryant goes on a shooting spree, killing 35 people and seriously injuring 21 more, resulting in draconian Australian gun laws that disarm the law-abiding. Crazy people, however, remain crazy, and criminals remain criminals.
No mention of the astounding seamanship demonstrated by William Bligh in sailing across thousands of miles of open ocean in the Bounty’s open launch and landing on Dutch Timor?
The mutineers made Pitcairn Island in a seaworthy ocean capable vessel. The fact that Bligh made it to Timor in that small boat is a testament to his skills.
“No mention of the astounding seamanship demonstrated by William Bligh in sailing across thousands of miles of open ocean. . .”
And that without charts or sextant (I think). Compass and memory only! And then held them together and got them through their ordeal.
Bligh wasn’t the “Bligh” of hollyweird. He was no worse, and in a fact better, than most Captains. ‘Twas Christian and the malcontents what caused it.
Cheers,
Mark
Cheers,
Mark
And in addition to an amazing feat of seamanship, during his voyage to East Timor, Capt. William Bligh also charted the area he passed through, developing nautical charts that are the basis for charts still in use today.
A little known fact – the reason Christian and the malcontents went to Pitcairn Island was that they had the only corrected charts that showed the island’s correct position – the Admiralty charts in use misplaced Pitcairn by over 50 miles, so far that the island could not be spotted from its charted position.