Hurricane Sandy Sinks HMS Bounty

The HMS Bounty has sunk off the coast of North Carolina on its way back to St. Petersburg, as Hurricane Sandy stirred up seas and wind gusts. 

The Coast Guard plucked 14 of the ship's 16 crewmembers from the waters after they jumped ship. 

HMS Bounty officials said they received a distress call from the Bounty at 6:30 p.m. Sunday evening. The ship had lost power, and the pumps were unable to keep up

According to the Associated Press, the crew was aware of the storm and tried to navigate around it. 

The director of the HMS Bounty Organization, Tracie Simonin, said that the tall ship left Connecticut last week for St. Petersburg, Fla. She said the crew had been in constant contact with the National Hurricane Center and tried to go around the storm.

Coast Guard Officials told the Washington Post that the crew was dealing with extremely difficult conditions trying to get to St. Pete. 

“With 40 mile-per-hour winds, 18-foot seas, waves and swells, and a mile of visibility, those are absolutely challenging circumstances to conduct this kind of hoist operation,” said Lt. Mike Patterson, a Coast Guard spokesman. “That’s a testimony to what our folks do.”

The HMS Bounty was scheduled to be docked in St. Petersburg Nov. 10 and 11 at the St. Petersburg Pier. 

According to the HMS Bounty Organization, the ship saw quite a history, including formally calling St. Petersburg home. 

The HMS Bounty is one of the most famous ships in the world. Known for the storied mutiny that took place in Tahiti in 1789 on board the British transport vessel, the current Bounty, a replica, has survived to tell the tale. Built for the 1962 movie “Mutiny on the Bounty” with Marlon Brando, HMS Bounty sails the country offering dockside tours in which one can learn about the history and details of sailing vessels from a lost and romanticized time in maritime history. Since her debut in “Mutiny on the Bounty”, HMS Bounty has appeared in many documentaries and featured films such as the Edinburgh Trader in Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Mans Chest with Johnny Depp.