HMS Bounty

The Tall ship HMS Bounty sank off of North Carolina yesterday during hurricane. 16 crew members were rescued, 1 perished and the Captain is still missing, mostly perished as well. I don't mean to be insensitive about such a tragedy, but what on earth was a delicate ship of that nature doing out in the middle of the worst hurricane in a century?? They left Connecticut late last week heading towards Florida. This storm has been in the news for more than a week, so they had to know about it. In my mind this is much greater than stupidity. To me this is a criminal act. any thoughts?

What they were trying to do was get the vessel out of Connecticut and go around the storm. They lost power and drifted into the storms path. Just bad luck, no criminal act, no mutiny.

Anyone notice that the woman who perished last name was "Christian"? Probably a descendant of Fletcher!!

At least we will be able to remember her (the ship) in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie

From Wiki:

It was later reported that the Coast Guard had recovered one of the missing crew members, Claudene Fletcher, who later died.
Ms. Fletcher is reported to be a direct descendant of Fletcher Christian, of the original HMS Bounty. The Coast Guard also reported that the HMS Bounty had sunk, although her mast was still visible above the water. She will slowly sink as air leaks out of her wooden construction.

Quote: DrJohn

What they were trying to do was get the vessel out of Connecticut and go around the storm. They lost power and drifted into the storms path. Just bad luck, no criminal act, no mutiny.!

Go around the storm? Look at the size of this storm on photos from space. You would have had to sail to Europe to avoid this storm. This ship was a movie prop. It was supposes to be destroyed at the end of "Mutiny on the Bounty" 50 years ago, but Brando wouldn't allow that, so it has survived as a movie prop and participating in boat shows. It was not built to be a sea going vessel battling the biggest storm of the century in the middle of the Atlantic. A number of experience sailor and sea experts raised concerns about this voyage last week. This was just a bad decision and there was really no reason for it.

Quote: kewlj

Go around the storm? Look at the size of this storm on photos from space. You would have had to sail to Europe to avoid this storm. This ship was a movie prop. It was supposes to be destroyed at the end of "Mutiny on the Bounty" 50 years ago, but Brando wouldn't allow that, so it has survived as a movie prop and participating in boat shows. It was not built to be a sea going vessel battling the biggest storm of the century in the middle of the Atlantic. A number of experience sailor and sea experts raised concerns about this voyage last week. This was just a bad decision and there was really no reason for it.

I thought it was safer for ships to be out to sea in a big storm versus being docked? My brother is a Naval officer and I remember him saying something to this effect. Makes sense though, a lot of damage could be done if you had a bunch of ships near each other on a dock in unpredicatable weather.

Quote: bigfoot66

I thought it was safer for ships to be out to sea in a big storm versus being docked? My brother is a Naval officer and I remember him saying something to this effect. Makes sense though, a lot of damage could be done if you had a bunch of ships near each other on a dock in unpredicatable weather.

You are missing the point that this ship was built as a movie prop. yes it can sail during normal conditions, but it was not built to withstand these conditions.

I would not refer to the ship as delicate.
If they had adequate provisions on board and an ability to monitor Marine WX information, the voyage was not manifestly unsafe.
There may have been some other motivation since safe harbor in Connecticut was already available though I imagine quite a few boats took a pounding in those "safe harbors".
In heavy seas she may have shipped sufficient water to short out her engines, so it would be a question of pumps and how battened down the hatches were over the engine spaces. It would have been high winds so she probably would have carried only stud sails to stabilize her while making way under power. Might be a question of seamanship and luck. Not necessarily foolhardy to attempt the voyage though.

The result of the decision to sail is not a determining factor in evaluating the decision itself. Hurricane winds driving a vessel onto a lee shore? North Carolina is filled with such wrecks!

Christian's last text to her mother read, "If I do go down with the ship & the worst happens… just know that I am truly genuinely happy!!"

Well, that may be comforting to some but the real question is how adequate were the bilge pumps for sailing into such a powerful and large storm?