Bligh, William

William Bligh (1754 to 1817) was a Royal Navy officer remembered for the mutiny aboard HMS Bounty on 28 April 1789, when Fletcher Christian and crew set him adrift in a 23-foot launch with 18 loyal men. Bligh navigated roughly 3,600 nautical miles to Timor with minimal provisions, a noted feat of open-boat seamanship. He had sailed as master under James Cook and later served as Governor of New South Wales, where the Rum Rebellion deposed him in 1808. His reputation rests as much on the Bounty literature as on the record.