This photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the HMS Bounty, a 180-foot sailboat, submerged in the Atlantic Ocean during Sandy approximately 90 miles southeast of Hatteras, N.C., Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. (Photo: AP)
Washington:
The famous ship HMS Bounty which appeared in Hollywood movies like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest has gone down with huge waves churned up bymegastorm Sandy off the North Carolina coast.
Only 13 of the 16 people aboard got off the ship safely, initially, and only one of the three washed overboard made it into a raft, Coast Guard Vice Admiral Robert Parker said.
In this July 7, 2010 file photo, the tall ship HMS Bounty sails on Lake Erie off Cleveland. The U.S. Coast Guard has rescued 14 members of the crew forced to abandon the HMS Bounty caught in Hurricane Sandy off North Carolina. The Coast Guard is searching for two other crew members.
The Bounty's longtime captain, Robin Walbridge remained missing as night approached yesterday, CNN quoted Lt Mike Patterson, a Coast Guard spokesman as saying.
The body of the second, deckhand Claudine Christian, was found yesterday evening.
The 180-foot, three-masted ship, a replica of the famous British vessel, foundered about 144 kilometres off North Carolina as Sandy's fury churned the Atlantic into 18-foot seas, its owner, Bob Hansen, told CNN affilliate KUSA.
Hansen said Walbridge was attempting to head east, away from the hurricane, when the ship began taking on water.
"At that time it wasn't considered an emergency, even though they had several feet of water inside the boat," Hansensaid.
"She's a very large ship, and that little bit of water really does not do anything to her. But somehow we lost power in our generator and in our main engines, and as a result, we could not pump any water out of the boat," Hansen said.
As the waves continued to batter the ship, "it just got to the point where she couldn't stay afloat anymore".
All of the crew members were wearing orange survival suits with strobe lights designed to keep them afloat, warm and easy to find.
"But in these conditions, it's very problematic," Parker said, adding that a timely deployment of search-and-rescue aircraft and ships gives the missing a chance.
All of those rescued arrived at the Coast Guard air station in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and were in good health, Parker said.
Coast Guard helicopters plucked 14 people out of two lifeboats, Petty Officer Brandyn Hill said.
The ship was built for the 1962 film version of Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Marlon Brando, and appeared in the 2006 blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
It was once owned by America's Cup winner and CNN founder Ted Turner, who acquired it in 1986 along with the rights tothe MGM film library.
"Among the many troubling reports on the devastatingimpact of Hurricane Sandy, I am deeply saddened to hear that the HMS Bounty was overtaken by the storm," Turner said in a statement yesterday night.
"As a sailor and former owner of the Bounty, my heart goes out to the families of the missing crew members, and I am truly hopeful for their safe recovery," Turner added.
The ship departed from New London, Connecticut, for St Petersburg, Florida, on October 25, according to the ship's Facebook page.
Megastorm Sandy battered the US East Coast today killing at least 16 people.
Only 13 of the 16 people aboard got off the ship safely, initially, and only one of the three washed overboard made it into a raft, Coast Guard Vice Admiral Robert Parker said.
In this July 7, 2010 file photo, the tall ship HMS Bounty sails on Lake Erie off Cleveland. The U.S. Coast Guard has rescued 14 members of the crew forced to abandon the HMS Bounty caught in Hurricane Sandy off North Carolina. The Coast Guard is searching for two other crew members.
The Bounty's longtime captain, Robin Walbridge remained missing as night approached yesterday, CNN quoted Lt Mike Patterson, a Coast Guard spokesman as saying.
The body of the second, deckhand Claudine Christian, was found yesterday evening.
The 180-foot, three-masted ship, a replica of the famous British vessel, foundered about 144 kilometres off North Carolina as Sandy's fury churned the Atlantic into 18-foot seas, its owner, Bob Hansen, told CNN affilliate KUSA.
Hansen said Walbridge was attempting to head east, away from the hurricane, when the ship began taking on water.
"At that time it wasn't considered an emergency, even though they had several feet of water inside the boat," Hansensaid.
"She's a very large ship, and that little bit of water really does not do anything to her. But somehow we lost power in our generator and in our main engines, and as a result, we could not pump any water out of the boat," Hansen said.
As the waves continued to batter the ship, "it just got to the point where she couldn't stay afloat anymore".
All of the crew members were wearing orange survival suits with strobe lights designed to keep them afloat, warm and easy to find.
"But in these conditions, it's very problematic," Parker said, adding that a timely deployment of search-and-rescue aircraft and ships gives the missing a chance.
All of those rescued arrived at the Coast Guard air station in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and were in good health, Parker said.
Coast Guard helicopters plucked 14 people out of two lifeboats, Petty Officer Brandyn Hill said.
The ship was built for the 1962 film version of Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Marlon Brando, and appeared in the 2006 blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
It was once owned by America's Cup winner and CNN founder Ted Turner, who acquired it in 1986 along with the rights tothe MGM film library.
"Among the many troubling reports on the devastatingimpact of Hurricane Sandy, I am deeply saddened to hear that the HMS Bounty was overtaken by the storm," Turner said in a statement yesterday night.
"As a sailor and former owner of the Bounty, my heart goes out to the families of the missing crew members, and I am truly hopeful for their safe recovery," Turner added.
The ship departed from New London, Connecticut, for St Petersburg, Florida, on October 25, according to the ship's Facebook page.
Megastorm Sandy battered the US East Coast today killing at least 16 people.
