Facebook documents ship’s final voyage

HMS Bounty’s captain and crew appeared confident in their decision as they set sail from New London, Conn. Oct. 25 to skirt east of Hurricane Sandy.

“A ship is safer at sea than in port!” read one post on the Bounty’s Facebook page.

Detailed discussion on the website before the ship set sail provided insight into the reasoning behind the decision to leave port for Florida.

But some expressed concerns as hundreds weighed in with their thoughts and prayers.

Facebook tracked the voyage with positions, weather reports and dispaches from the captain.

On the third day, the entries became more ominous as the ship found itself being drawn into the southern tail of the storm.

A message from Capt. Robin Walbridge was posted Oct. 28:

“I think we are going to be into this for several days, the (weather) looks like even after the eye goes by it will linger for a couple of days. We are just going to keep trying to go fast and squeese by the storm and land as fast as we can.”

Later that day, another posting:

“One of Bounty’s generators has failed . . . they are taking on more water than they would like . . . THE CREW AND BOUNTY ARE SAFE . . . The Captain will await till morning to determine if Bounty is in need of any assistance.”

By 6:30 p.m. Sunday, contact had been lost with the Bounty, and the owner called the Coast Guard.

On Monday, Coast Guard helicopter crews rescued 14 crew members. The ship subsequently sank.

The Coast Guard suspended its search for the 63-year-old captain on Thursday after scouring 12,000 square miles for 90 hours.

Unable to survive after being pulled from the water was Claudene Christian, who claimed a family connection to the leader of the famous 1789 mutiny, Fletcher Christian, according to a story in The Christian Science Monitor.

A replica recreated with plans from the original, the ship was built in 1962 for the movie “Mutiny on the Bounty,” starring Marlon Brando. It later appeared in “Pirates of the Caribbean.”

The crew had put on survival suits and deployed two lifeboats with canopies before abandoning the ship.

Bounty was in 18-foot seas and 40 mph winds about 160 miles west of the eye of Hurricane Sandy, the Coast Guard said.

“We . . . mourn the loss of Bounty’s crewmember Claudene Christian and Pray for the continued efforts to rescue our Beloved Captain, Robin Walbridge,” a post Tuesday said.

Bounty’s Facebook page documents the decision to leave New London, Conn. »
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