Tuesday, October 30, 2012

One Crewmember Dead, Captain Missing In Bounty Tragedy

Robin Walbridge, captain of HMS Bounty, is missing at sea.
HMS Bounty Capt, Robin Walbridge
A search is underway for missing ship captain, Robin Walbridge, off the coast of North Carolina. A woman who was rescued in the Atlantic after abandoning the vessel in rough weather yesterday churned up by Hurricane Sandy has died. Ironically, crew member Claudeen Christian was a descendent of Fletcher Christian, the mastermind behind the real-life mutiny on the original Bounty in 1789. 14 other crew members were rescued from their lifeboats by the US Coast Guard. Meanwhile, a retired shipbuilder who worked on construction of HMS Bounty at the former Smith & Rhuland yard in Lunenburg in 1960 says the vessel's sinking and loss of two crew members is a great tragedy. 76 year-old Gerald Zwicker says he and other workers are saddened by the event.



The replica of the orginal HMS Bounty was built for the 1962 MGM movie "Mutiny On The Bounty". Historians estimate ... about 45 people worked on her construction on the Lunenburg waterfront. The Bounty became a regular visitor to Lunenburg over the years and stopped off for a weekend visit in early August.