One of the city’s most popular tourist attractions, the HMS Bounty was docked on the Pier Approach behind the St. Petersburg Museum of History for 20 years. Built in 1960 for the film Mutiny on the Bounty, the magnificent replica of the 18th Century British naval gunship almost never made it to St. Pete. MGM had plans to burn her in the closing scene, but the film’s star Marlon Brando protested the ship’s destruction. MGM then used the tall ship to promote Mutiny on the Bounty before permanently mooring it in St. Petersburg. The HMS Bounty was purchased by Ted Turner in 1986 and began splitting its time between northern ports in the summer and St. Pete in the winter. The Bounty was also used in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Treasure Island and Yellowbeard. In October of 2012, the Bounty left New London, Connecticut and was making its way to St. Petersburg when she encountered Hurricane Sandy. The Bounty took on water and sank southeast of the Outer Banks area of North Carolina. The ship lost one of its crew and captain in tragedy.
This historical image of St. Petersburg, and many more, are available in the Museum’s archives. For more information, visit HistoryStPete.org.
