William Bligh (1754)

Though he had a long and notable career in the British Royal Navy, Bligh is chiefly remembered for the 1787 mutiny on his ship, the HMS Bounty, during which he and those crew members who remained loyal to him were set adrift in a longboat. In a remarkable act of seamanship, with neither a map nor a compass, Bligh guided them across 3,618 mi (5,822 km) of ocean to the nearest European outpost, Timor. In the 1770s, Bligh served as the sailing master on what famous explorer's final voyage? More...