HMS Bounty to make Cork visit

It's a tale which has captured the imagination of writers and filmmakers for decades and almost every generation has enjoyed …

It's a tale which has captured the imagination of writers and filmmakers for decades and almost every generation has enjoyed its own film version of Captain William Bligh, Fletcher Christian and Mutiny on the Bounty.

Now Irish film fans and ship lovers are in for a treat when the original three masted schooner built for the 1960 film version starring Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard pays a visit Cobh in Cork Harbour this weekend.

The visit, hosted by the Port of Cork, will see the HMS Bountyunder the command of Captain Robin Walbridge and his 18 strong crew open up its decks and galleys to the public for tours throughout Saturday and Sunday.

Margaret Ramsay of the HMS BountyOrganisation, which owns the ship, explained that the ship was built in Lunenberg in Nova Scotia for the 1960 film version of the mutiny against Capt William Bligh in the South Pacific in 1789.

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Ms Ramsay explained that the original HMS Bountywas a converted coal carrying merchant ship named the Bethiabut that she was renamed by the Royal Navy and recommissioned to bring sapling breadfruit trees from Tahiti to the West Indies.

The story of how Master's Mate, Fletcher Christian led the crew in mutiny against the strict discipline of Capt Bligh was well known from the 1935 film starring Clark Gable and Charles Laughton and has more recently been remade with Mel Gibson and Athnony Hopkins.

However it is the 1960 version that visitors to Cobh will be able to familiarise themselves with this weekend when they can see where exactly Brando confronted Howard having made the fateful decision from which there could be no return.

"The Bounty is one of the few ships that allow you to step below where the crew lives and work and you can step into the sailors' cabins and see the very locations where Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard acted out their scenes," said Ms Ramsay.

Currently on a six month tour of Europe which has seen her participate in the Tall Ships in Belfast in August, the HMS Bountyhas built up an enviable list of film credits including an appearance in Pirates of the Carribbean IIstarring Johnny Depp as Capt Jack Sparrow.

"We've just come from the Netherlands where some 21,000 people visited her in three days- we're delighted to be coming to a town like Cobh which has such a rich maritime history and we'd be thrilled if we could attract that many visitors during our stay," she said.

For more information on the HMS Bounty's visit to Cobh and other voyages, visit www.tallshipbounty.org