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At 15:24 20/01/2008, you wrote:
>
>
>My interpretation is that Bligh was not capable of leadership.  A
>good leader should have been able to keep the Bounty crew from
>mutinying.  There are subtleties of interpretation of the rules and
>quelling fights between subordinates and open revolt from
>subordinates that not everybody possesses.  People skills.
>
>Fred Hebard

I am one of those who think Bligh is much under rated. As for his career
being over after the 'second mutiny', he was promoted to Vice Admiral (with
back pay) afterwards.

As for not being a good leader - leaders need to maintain a certain
aloofness to be able to operate effectively. The great cabin  on the Bounty
that Bligh would have occupied as captain was given over to the bread fruit
plants. The ship was very small, some 215 tons just. (Endeavour was 368
tons) I think the very cramped conditions on board the Bounty - made even
more so by having to make room for all those bread fruit plants - added
greatly the escalation of personal animosities that led to the mutiny.
There were no marines to back him up and he was the only commissioned
officer on board. He was over-exposed and under-supported.

But let us instead look at Bligh's next command after the Bounty. Bligh and
18 other crew members loyal to him were set adrift in the Bounty's launch,
an open boat, 23-foot long by 6'9" wide. Bligh pulled off one of the
greatest feats of seamanship in history when he took his boat to Timor,
Java, covering 3618 nautical miles in 47 days - without a single man lost.
If that did not require 'people skills' in spades, I don't know what would...

Geoffrey Kolbe


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