When Lieutenant William Bligh set sail for the East Indian island of Timor on 28th April 1789, he commanded an 18-man crew in a perilously overloaded 23-foot launch. The extremely hazardous 3,600-mile voyage he was facing had been forced upon him by his second-in-command, Fletcher Christian of His Majesty's Armed Vessel Bounty, who set him adrift following the famous mutiny. Remarkably, on 12th June, after fending off starvation and murderous Polynesian natives, Bligh arrived safely at his destination. Whatever flaws there may have been in his character, he was an exceptional navigator.
Questions about Bligh's supposedly despotic conduct during his command of the Bounty have been inconclusively debated ever since the mutiny. Whether or not he truly was a tyrant, he seemed to be cursed with a knack for inspiring insurrection. The Bounty rebellion was only the first of three mutinies against Bligh during the officer's remarkable naval career.
