Mutiny on the Bounty

The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel HMS Bounty occurred two hundred and thirty years ago, in the South Pacific on 28 April 1789.

In the eighteenth century, the captain of a sailing ship had life or death authority over the men he commanded. His word was law, there was no appeal, and any man who disobeyed could be hung by his neck from the highest yardarm as a warning to others who might contemplate mutiny.

The Mutiny on the Bounty is a true adventure, chronicling the harsh discipline and cruelty by decorated captain Lieutenant William Bligh, which led to a mutiny on his ship.

Three weeks back at sea, after a long stay on land in Tahiti, the disaffected crewmen, led by Acting Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship from their captain and set him and 18 loyalists adrift in the ship's open launch.

The story then follows both the efforts of Fletcher Christian to get his men beyond the reach of British retribution, and the epic voyage of Lieutenant Bligh to get his loyalists safely to East Timor in a tiny lifeboat.

There are several old time radio adaptations of The Mutiny on the Bounty, with varying opinions on the tyrannical ship's captain, William Bligh. In Favorite Story, his character is certainly portrayed as an absolute dictator, and one of the most hated men who ever sailed the sea.

This story is told from the diary of officer James Morrison who along with young Peter Heywood was tried and pardoned for his part in the mutiny led by Masters Mate Fletcher Christian.

Finally, in the Campbell Playhouse adaptation of the story, the adventure comes to its conclusion with the most remarkable court martial in maritime history, with seven naval officers and men on trial for their lives before the lord's commission of the admiralty on charges of high treason.

Happy listening my friends,