(1754–1817)
an officer in the British navy who is remembered because his men turned against him when he was the captain of a ship called HMS Bounty in the Pacific Ocean in 1789. Bligh was put in an open boat with 18 of his men and a few supplies. They reached land seven weeks later. In 1805 Bligh became the Governor of New South Wales in Australia, and in 1808 the soldiers there also turned against him, putting him in prison for two years. He was not blamed by the British government, however, and was made an admiral in 1811.
See also Mutiny on the Bounty .