Nearly-forgotten history: Mutiny on the Bounty

[seamusTX]

Every literate person knows that the British ship HMS Bounty fell to a mutiny 1789, led by one Fletcher Christian. The mutineers decamped to Pitcairn Island in the south Pacific, where they survive today.

Mister Christian still has living descendants on Pitcairn Island to this day. One of them, rather well known, died last month:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/world ... 77.html?hp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Captain Bligh has living descendants as well.

- Jim

[philip964]

I saw the first movie in Black and White (1935 release) when I was ten in the '60's. Charles Laughton was fantastic.

I am not entirely literate.

Made quite an impression on me. The conflict between authority and justice.

[seamusTX]

The conflict between authority and justice.

It's a fascinating story, both the mutiny and the survival of the captain and what was left of his faithful crew.

If a U.S. naval captain acted like Captain Bligh or any of those 18th-century captains, he would be relieved of command in short order and probably become more familiar with Ft. Leavenworth than he would like. OTOH, recruitment standards were quite different then. Some of the sailors required a pretty firm hand.

- Jim

[JALLEN]

Thanks for posting that. I had not heard that Tom Christian was a Silent Key. RIP, VR6TC.

I had a schedule with him and a fellow in Grapevine, Bob, every Tuesday afternoon back in the early to mid-70s, about the time of the fuel and power situation. We spent quite a bit of time talking over how to best provide their needs. I recall scouring the US for tri-powered refrigeration units, which Bob found in NY somewhere. I do not recall if any were ever shipped or how it ended up. I moved at some point and removed all my antennas for several years.

I recall one fascinating series of contacts. An Army doctor had taken his discharge in Viet Nam and was working his way back to the US as a crewman on yachts. The yacht he was on called at Pitcairn, and we handled some telephone patches to friends and relatives. Doctors were almost unknown to the islanders, of course. He set some broken bones, that sort of thing. He told how he had given physicals to everyone on the island, about 90 some odd, including an elderly woman. His specialty was gerontology, and he talked about how he found no evidence whatsoever of the diseases of western civilization, heart diseases, strokes, those resulting from stress, etc. His accounts and observations of life on the island were quite remarkable.

For years , a big source of income of the island was postage stamps. Tom Christian was the Queen's Postmaster, selling stamps to collectors all over the world.

His daughter, Annette, was a licensed ham. I have no idea what the situation is out there now, unfortunately.

[seamusTX]

Small world.

I had a novice ham license a long time ago, when novices could only use crystals and key-code. I'm afraid my enthusiasm didn't last long. But radio is in incredible invention. It is not (necessarily) high-tech, but it works when all of the more sophisticated stuff doesn't.

- Jim

[philip964]

If I remember there is a scene in the movie where Christian tries to keep a young ensign from going with Captain Bligh, in a lifeboat in the middle of the pacific, for he knew he would die. Bligh sailed the lifeboat all the way to civilization which must have been half way around the world.

[JALLEN]

Small world.

I had a novice ham license a long time ago, when novices could only use crystals and key-code. I'm afraid my enthusiasm didn't last long. But radio is in incredible invention. It is not (necessarily) high-tech, but it works when all of the more sophisticated stuff doesn't.

- Jim

Yep. I have been licensed since 1959. The thought of sitting there in one's home talking to folks all over the world either grabs you or it doesn't. It grabbed me.

In the 54 years since, I've talked to Tom Christian many times, a "government employee" named Barry who turned out to be Senator Barry Goldwater, King Hussein of Jordan, Prince Turkey in Saudi Arabia, all sorts of Russians, Japanese, Aussies, Kiwi's, Europeans, South Americans, practically every corner of the world.

It is more a disease than a hobby, truth to tell.

[n5wd]

RIP,Tom. VR6TC SK

Like many others around the world, VR6TC's QSL card is one of my most prized.

73 OM ES GL
DE N5WD

[jimlongley]

Small world.

I had a novice ham license a long time ago, when novices could only use crystals and key-code. I'm afraid my enthusiasm didn't last long. But radio is in incredible invention. It is not (necessarily) high-tech, but it works when all of the more sophisticated stuff doesn't.

- Jim

Yep. I have been licensed since 1959. The thought of sitting there in one's home talking to folks all over the world either grabs you or it doesn't. It grabbed me.

In the 54 years since, I've talked to Tom Christian many times, a "government employee" named Barry who turned out to be Senator Barry Goldwater, King Hussein of Jordan, Prince Turkey in Saudi Arabia, all sorts of Russians, Japanese, Aussies, Kiwi's, Europeans, South Americans, practically every corner of the world.

It is more a disease than a hobby, truth to tell.

Licensed, on and off, since 1955, talked to most of those and had cards from them. Barry Goldwater was a regular on a couple of nets, and I almost knocked my mike off the table trying to key it when I got the answer "Hussein Here!"

Worked Owen Garriott with a handitalky and a handheld beam and made my day that day.

Lost most of my card collection when I had a flood event in my basement and the sump pump turned out to have been installed 180 out. Had a regular sched with a ham in Te Puke, Bay of Plenty, NZ, cross mode with me sending in Morse and him responding Phone.

Been years since I've been on the bands - anyone want to buy an unused Force 12 C4SXL for $1000?

73 de K5NRA (ex N2AZM)