Search called off for missing Bounty captain after ship destroyed
9:47am Friday 2nd November 2012 in News
By Greg Fountain, Reporter/Photographer
Replica tallship HMS Bounty, which visited Falmouth last June, sinks beneath the waves off the coast of North Carolina. Credit: USCG
HMS Bounty, the replica sailing ship that visited Falmouth last year, was sunk off the US east coast earlier this week after encountering heavy seas from Hurricane Sandy.
Fourteen of the 16 crew members were rescued from life rafts by the US Coast Guard (USCG) on Monday but captain Robin Walbridge, aged 63 and another crew member, Claudene Christian were washed overboard before they could make it to the rafts.
The 42-year-old Claudene was pulled from the water only to be later pronounced dead.
He was a descendant of Fletcher Christian of the original HMS Bounty who played a major role in the 1759 mutiny in Tahiti.
The US Coast Guard confirmed this morning that the search for captain Walbridge had now been called off.
Crews had searched for more than 90 hours and covered almost 12,000 square miles of the Atlantic Ocean
Captain Doug Cameron, chief of incident response for the USCG 5th District, has said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the Walbridge and Christian families.
"Suspending a search and rescue case is one of the hardest decision we have to make."
The replica Bounty was built in 1962 for MGM Studios for the famous film Mutiny on the Bounty starring Marlon Brando. In Pirates of Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest with Johnny Depp the vessel had a turn as the Edinburgh Trader.
To read more about the effects of Hurricane Sandy on local people and for more on the HMS Bounty's visit to Falmouth click the links below:
Cornish caught in USA superstorm
Ship that called into Falmouth sinks in US superstorm rescue drama: VIDEO
Truro mother of two trapped by US 'Frankenstorm': LIVE STORM COVERAGE
Star of silver screen HMS Bounty to visit Falmouth
