Hurricane Sandy claimed 2 more victims yesterday as the replica sailing ship, the 3 -masted ship known as HMS Bounty, a to-scale replica built in 1961 for the big Hollywood remake of the film by the same name. The star of the movie was Marlon Brando, who was at the peak of his early career.
The movie was done in spectacular fashion, with many scenes shot on the decks of the ship in and around Tahiti and French Polynesia. The replica ship had 20' added to the original dimension to accommodate the film equipment and to install an engine room.
After the movie was filmed the ship returned to the USA and made several stops at West coast ports to promote the film. One of those stops was at Fishermen's Wharf in San Francisco in 1962. It was a thrill to view the ship up close, with the crew in period garb and the ship brightly painted in authentic colors. It was an experience to walk the length of the ship and examine the details of her construction.
Sadly, for unexplained reasons, the ship was sailing off the Mid Atlantic coast, apparently trying to avoid Hurricane Sandy without success. As the ship took on more water, the pumps became over taxed and failed. The crew took to life boats, but the captain and one crew member were washed overboard and were lost. The Coast Guard recovered the body of one crew member, and airlifted the remainder off the lifeboats; and they were taken to Elizabeth City, NC.
The ship sunk shortly thereafter, and no doubt will not be salvaged. A little bit of history, gone forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment