H.M.S.Bounty and other ships of the type.

Didja Know?

   The Bounty used to be a collier ( Coal Carrier.) I ran across this information in a June 1988 National Geographic I came across. See! Research comes in many forms. The Article was called the " Yorktown Shipwreck"

   An Excerpt follows." Though she was small she was built for maximum cargo capacity."With that the comment was made. "The voyages of Captain Cook and Bligh were made in converted Colliers."

   "Their bows were as round as an apple and the stern sometimes was with a stempiece being a square baulk of timber"  They were then known as Collier Brigs. 

    These were  Two masted versions of what was normally a three masted vessel. Their very design allowed them to sit on the bottom of the Thames in low tide fully loaded.They were slow, But, Strong, Probably about 170 tonnes. That was smaller than the Navy Board's small  ship requirement of a minimum of 200 tonnes"

   This then sheds new light on the vessel type. The British Navy at that time was in a hurt. The war with the Colonies was coming to a close and after Yorktown , it was only a couple of weeks from being won by the Colonists.

 They were NEVER exactly the same though . It was found that the bow and stern were mirror images of each other and they were shallow draft as well. Final comments have them being built by " Rack of Eye. No drawn plans"and being essentially the seagoing " Mack Truck " of the time.     T.B.