Q & A: Bligh edition

[selenak]

Writing about Pitcairn made me refresh my Bligh & Bounty knowledge by browsing in the books I already knew, and check outs some I didn't, which is why you get some more ramblings on the subject.

Top Pop Culture Misunderstandings About William Bligh:

"Captain Bligh": when in command of the Bounty, he wasn't. He was Lieutenant Bligh, which isn'

Comments

[reverancepavane]

Actually his rank was Lieutenant (technically Lieutenant and Commander), but he was the Captain of the ship. Therefore it is in fact correct to call him Captain Bligh (of HMS Bounty). Even the commander of a lowly sloop-of-war or merchantman was a captain and had the full authority of a captain - the master of all absent the sudden appearance of God on the quarterdeck ("Master after God") - and was called Captain in order to remind people of that.

Since Bounty was only a converted collier (the Bethia) with only 4 long guns (and those were only 4 pounders [at this time a proper Royal Navy frigate was equipped with 18 pounders]) it barely rated as a sloop-of-war, even though it had three masts and was fully rigged. It was officially an "Armed Vessel." As such it was definitely a Lieutenant's billet, not a Captain's.

This was why Captain Cook of HMS Endeavour (also a converted Whitby collier [The Earl of Pembroke]) was also a Lieutenant - although Endeavour mounted a greater armament (ten 4 pounders), and was considered a "Bark/

[selenak]

Thank you for all the navy details.

[reverancepavane]

Sorry if I went overboard. [Pun intended. ]

[selenak]

Not at all, you held the course admirable. :)