John Adams (mutineer) John Adams (mutineer) John Adams, known as Jack Adams (4 December 1767 – 5 March 1829), was the last survivor of the HMS "Bounty" mutineers who settled on Pitcairn Island in January 1790, the year after the mutiny. His real name was John Adams, but he used the name Alexander Smith until he was discovered in 1808 by Captain Mayhew Folger of the American whaling ship "Topaz". His children used the surname "Adams". The mutineers of HMS "Bounty" and their Tahitian companions settled on the island and set fire to the "Bounty". Only the ballast stone remains of the wreck
HMS Bounty to and including the names of every seaman on board, something which larger ships in the rating system only occasionally were capable of due to crews in the hundreds whereas the "Bounty" carried fewer than fifty personnel. Bligh's original log remained intact throughout his ordeal and was used as a major piece of evidence in his own trial for the loss of the "Bounty" as well as the subsequent trial of captured mutineers. The original log is presently maintained at a museum in New South Wales with available transcripts in both print and electronic format. In the 18th century Royal