Fair Winds Robin, Claudene, and HMS Bounty ;\ s we send this issue of Sea History to press, we mourn the f l l oss of the replica ship HMS Bounty in Hurricane Sandy and, more importantly, two of her crew, including her long-time captain, Robin Walbridge. As Hurricane Sandy was barreling towards the northeast, many of us awoke to the news that HMS Bounty was foundering off the coast of North Carolina, approximately 100 miles from Cape Hatteras, that famous graveyard of ships. We rejoiced in the first reports that all of her crew had been accounted for and were being rescued by US Coast Guard Search and Rescue teams (SAR). Our hearts broke when we learned that the first reports were inaccurate, and that two of Bounty's crewmembers were missing. In a matter of hours, the Coast G uard had posted online an 11 Y2minute video of the helicopter rescue of the crew. It is a remarkable video, showing the difficulty of the helicopter pilot's job, the intensity of the rescue swimmer's task, and the conditions the crew were enduring in the life rafts that flipped and then flipped again in the wind and waves. (You can watch it online at www. youtube.com/watch?v=UD lc1slA8PA). The video gave us hope that they'd find the others. Soon the names of the two missing
Bounty sailors were released: one was a new deckhand, Claudene Christian, and the other was the ship's master, Captain Robin Walbridge. Within hours, rescuers did find Ms. Christian, but she was unresponsive and died a short time later. Hope remained for Captain Walbridge; as darkness fell , the Coast Guard searched on. They continued for another three and a half days before an nouncing that they .were suspending the search, crushing any remaining hopes that Captain Walbridge had beaten the odds and would be found alive. The National Maritime Historical Society extends its deepest condolences ro the families of Claudene Christian and Captain Robin Walbridge. The loss of Bounty is a loss to us all. But an even greater loss is the lives of two dedicated mariners. Rest in peace, shipmates. We also offer our most sincere thanks to the US Coast Guard and its SAR teams. Their rescue of Bounty's surviving crewmembers was nothing short of heroic, and their search for Captain Walbridge was as much as anyone could ask for. They searched for ninety hours, covering 12,000 overlapping square nautical miles using aircraft and cutters from three states.
About the Bounty HMS Bounty was well-known to moviegoers, to urists, and sailing ship mariners across several generations. She was built in 1960 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, for MGM Studios, which was getting ready to film another Mutiny on the Bounty movie, starring Marlon Brando. Since then, the ship has had roles in other Hollywood productions, including: Treasure Island, Yellowbeard,
Pirates ofthe Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, SpongeBob Squarepants, and a few documentaries along the way. In 2001, Bounty was bought by Robert Hansen, who, with Captain Walbridge at the helm, brought her to Boothbay, Maine, for a much-needed haulout and repairs. Since that time, the ship has undergone major restoration work, including a new bottom, new frames, machinery, props, fuel and water tanks, and new sails 32
and rigging. Bounty has put a lot of miles under her keel. Recently, in 2010 she made tour of the Great Lakes; in 2011 she toured Europe; and this past summer she visited ports all along the East Coast of the US and Canada participating in the War of 1812 bicentennial commemorations. Bounty had only been relaunched from a month-long shipyard maintenance period on 18 October. She made a stop in New London, Connecticut, for a daysail with submariners from USS Mississippi before leaving port on the 25'h for Florida with a crew of fifteen under the command of Captain Walbridge. At this time, the Coast Guard has started its formal investigation into the sinking, a process which often takes several months to complete. SEA HISTORY 141 , WINTER 2012- 13