TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® Pacific Coast Series opened in Victoria, BC on June 26

Tall Ship Bounty II

The Bounty II is a replica of the historical HMS Bounty, which was famous for being the vessel on which the ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ took place on 28 April 1789.

Bounty II was constructed for the filming of 1962 movie “Mutiny on the Bounty” on the orders of MGM film studio. Her design was copied from the pictures of HMS Bounty taken from the British admiralty archives. She was built in a conventional manner in a shipyard in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Her size was increased by nearly one-third of HMS Bounty in order to create space for the large 70 mm film cameras that were to be used for shooting the movie.

The plan at the time of Bounty II’s manufacturing was to burn her down after the movie’s filming, but lead actor Marlon Brando threatened to quit the movie if the ship was to be destroyed. Therefore, MGM decided to keep her in service. After the conclusion of the movie’s filming and promo campaigns, Bounty II was moored in St. Petersburg, Florida, where she remained as a tourist spot until 1986.

Following Ted Turner’s takeover of MGM in 1986, Bounty II became his property and he used it for his personal entertainment and promotional purposes. In 1989, she found her way on the big screen once again when she was used in the movie “Treasure Island” starring Charlton Heston.

HMS Bounty. Creative Commons Wikipedia

She was donated to the Fall River Chamber Foundation in 1993 by Turner. The Tall Ship Bounty Foundation was then created, which dedicated the vessel’s use to educational activities. During the next nine years, the cost of her maintenance became too much to bear for the Foundation and as a result, her United States Coast Guard license was also temporarily suspended. She was then sold to HMS Bounty Organization LLC in 2001.

Under new ownership, Bounty II’s bottom planking was restored at the Boothbay Harbor Shipyard. Anchored in its first permanent home in St. Petersburg, Florida, she once again became a tourist attraction and was also used in “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie series and the pornographic movie “Pirates.”

In 2006, she was once again brought to Boothbay Harbor, where her front end and topside decking were refurbished. She then embarked on a replica journey of the original HMS Bounty. Before commencing it World tour in 2007, she made a seven week voyage across the UK. After making an unscheduled stop in Northern Ireland, she visited Maryport, Cumbria, the place where mutiny leader Fletcher Christian was born.

While harbored at Scotland’s Custom House Quay in September 2009, Bounty II was the target of a robbery. The thieves stole some cash and several valuable emblems but fortunately all the items were recovered from a nearby location.

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TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® Pacific Coast Series opened in Victoria, BC on June 26

tallship BOUNTY, Victoria BC‏ © Thad Koza

HMS BOUNTY & LADY WASHINGTON(below) heading for Victoria, British Columbia, to join the TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® events, photographed by Thad Koza the 25th of June 2008.

The HMS Bounty is scheduled to visit, Tacoma, Port Alberni, San Francisco, Monterey, Channel Islands, San Diego and Los Angeles. The 9th of September she will depart from San Diego on a four week sail passage to Hawaii. After a 2 week layover at a few of the Hawaiian Islands she will return to San Diego and then onto the Galapagos Islands before heading back through the Panama Canal and home to St. Petersburg Florida arriving there in early January 2009.

Lady Washington is the Official Ship of the State of Washington and will join the tall ships in Victoria, BC (June 25-30), Tacoma, Wash. (July 3-7), and Port Alberni, BC (July 10-12).

The new Tall ships Calendar 2009 by Thad Kozad is now available. Featuring the STAR of INDIA on it’s cover along with 11 other tall ships photographed during the Tall Ships’ Races Mediterranea 2007

An unusual and magnificent image of the US Coast Guard’s Eagle under full sail, taken by Thad Kozad on the 2nd of july. On Thad’s own words “I had chased EAGLE all over for thirty years, before seeing her under full sail 2 days ago !”.

Thad Kozad is the author of Tall Ships, the fleet for the 21st Century, currently on it’s fourth edition. The book is a complete guide to Tall Ships with hundreds of Thad’s best photographs and detailed descriptions.