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 Pandora (1779) learning of the mutiny on HMS "Bounty", the First Lord of the Admiralty, John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, decided to despatch her to recover the "Bounty", capture the mutineers, and return them to England for trial. She was refitted, and her 9-pounder guns were reduced to 20 in number, though she gained four 18-pounder carronades. "Pandora" sailed from The Solent on 7 November 1790, commanded by Captain Edward Edwards and manned by a crew of 134 men. With his crew was Thomas Hayward, who had been on the "Bounty" at the time of the mutiny, and left with Bligh