Hollywood and American history crossed paths as Hurricane Sandy pounded the Eastern Seaboard. One of the casualties of this weather condition was the HMS Bounty, a replica used in the filming of Mutiny of the Bounty in 1960. The ship was built for MGM, and it appeared in several feature-length movies, television shows, and documentaries. Recently, the Bounty was used in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest starring Johnny Depp.

Mutiny on the Bounty starred Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard, and was based on the novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. The film retells the 1789 real-life mutiny aboard HMAV Bounty led by Fletcher Christian against the ship’s captain, William Bligh. It was the second film to be made, the first in 1935. The original epic was directed by Lewis Milestone, and starred Clark Gable, Charles Laughton, and Franchot Tone.

After filming and a worldwide promotional tour, MGM berthed the ship in St. Petersburg as a permanent tourist attraction – where she stayed until the mid-1980s. In 1986, Ted Turner acquired the MGM film library, and the Bounty with it. He used it to promote his ventures, and he loaned it to the production company that filmed Treasure Island with Charlton Heston in 1989. In 1993, Turner donated it to the Fall River Chamber Foundation, which established the Tall Ship Bounty Foundation to operate the ship as an educational venture. In February of 2001, it was purchased from the Foundation by HMS Bounty Organization LLC, which was dedicated to keeping the craft sailing, and using her as a vehicle for teaching the nearly lost arts of square rigged sailing and seamanship.

Unfortunately, the HMS Bounty sank in the high seas off the coast of North Carolina on Monday morning. The Coast Guard reports 14 crewmembers were air lifted from the sailing facility. However, the search for the ship’s captain continues; and one person died. The name of the deceased was Claudene Christian; no relation to the legendary Fletcher Christian.

The 180-foot wooden ship now lies at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. This is a ghastly conclusion to a mighty structure with a historic pedigree. . Thoughts and prayers go out to the Christian family and the wife of the captain, who did his best to sail out of harm’s way of Hurricane Sandy. It will be remembered as a 2012 perfect storm.

Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History and Son of Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History shares America's story through the eyes of actors from Hollywood's Golden Age. These poignant tales are available on Amazon... a thoughtful gift for family or friend.

Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History is also an eBook on Kindle, Nook, Sony eReader, and Apple...

Do yourself a favor this Holiday Season... Make TODAY the day you pick up copies of the book series...!