Scale: 1:48. A modern exhibition model of His Majesty’s Armed Vessel ‘Bounty’ (1787). A highly detailed plank on frame and fully rigged model, it is complete with scale figures and shows the vessel moored alongside a quay.

Originally built as the merchantman ‘Bethia’, it was purchased by the navy in 1787. Under the supervision of the eminent botanist, Sir Joseph Banks, it was converted for use to transport breadfruit trees from the East Indies to the West Indies thus providing a cheap source of food for plantation slaves.

Measuring 91 feet overall, 85 feet along the lower deck by 24 feet in the beam, and of 220 tons burthen, the ‘Bounty’ was under the command of Lt. William Bligh and set sail from Spithead on 23 December 1787, eventually arriving at Tahiti on 26 October 1788. However, it is the mutiny that took place on board during April 1789 that this ship is famously known for. The mutineers, led by Fletcher Christian, took over the ‘Bounty’ and cast Bligh and 18 of his crew adrift in the 23 foot launch. From May to September, Christian, now in command of the ‘Bounty’, searched for refuge in the South Seas, eventually finding Pitcairn Island on 15 January 1790.The ‘Bounty’ was being stripped when, to forestall any second thoughts and prevent discovery, Matthew Quintal set it on fire on 23rd. It burned to the waterline and sank in what became Bounty Bay, where its site is known and items have been retrieved since the 1930s.