Christian, Fletcher, 1764-1793

Fletcher Christian (25 September 1764 – 20 September 1793) was an English sailor who led the mutiny on the Bounty in 1789, during which he seized command of the Royal Navy vessel HMS Bounty from Lieutenant William Bligh. In 1787, Christian was appointed master's mate on Bounty, tasked with transporting breadfruit plants from Tahiti to the West Indies. Bligh subsequently named him acting-Lieutenant during the voyage. After a five-month layover in Tahiti, relations between Bligh and his crew deteriorated and, in April 1789, Christian led a mutiny and forced Bligh from the ship. Some of the mutineers were left on Tahiti, while Christian, eight other mutineers, six Tahitian men and eleven Tahitian women settled on isolated Pitcairn Island, where they stripped and burned the vessel. Christian died on Pitcairn, possibly killed in a conflict with Tahitians. His group was not found until 1808 and the sole surviving mutineer, John Adams, gave conflicting accounts of Christian's death.