Idyllic islands. An epic journey. A rebellious crew. When the H.M.S. Bounty set sail from England in November 1787, its captain and crew could never have anticipated that their peaceful voyage would end with court-martials, marooned mutineers, and generations of settlers on a far-flung island in the South Pacific. 

Now famous for its mutiny, the Bounty has become a big-screen legend, spawning five feature films in the 20th century alone. But the ship’s voyage, and it's unforeseen consequences, were very real.

The Bounty was a vessel of Britain’s Royal Navy, but its mission was peaceful. Veteran captain William Bligh had been tasked with a voyage to gather breadfruit, a tropical fruit related to the fig that the British crown thought