Mutiny on the Bounty for himself, his clerk Samuel, and his servant John Smith, and sailed on 16 October 1789. Four of the remainder—the master's mate Elphinstone, the quartermaster Peter Linkletter, the butcher Robert Lamb and the assistant surgeon Thomas Ledward—all died either in Batavia or on their journeys home. After the departure of Bligh's launch, Christian divided the personal effects of the departed loyalists among the remaining crew and threw the breadfruit plants into the sea. He recognised that Bligh could conceivably survive to report the mutiny, and that anyway the non-return of "Bounty" would occasion a search mission, with Tahiti as its
Mutiny on the Bounty when the loyalist gunner Peckover confirmed that much of what was alleged in the "Appendix" was true. Bligh commanded HMS "Director" at the Battle of Camperdown in October 1797 and HMS "Glatton" in the Battle of Copenhagen in April 1801. In 1805 while commanding HMS "Warrior", he was court-martialled for using bad language to his officers, and reprimanded. In 1806, he was appointed Governor of New South Wales in Australia; after two years a group of army officers arrested and deposed him in the Rum Rebellion. After his return to England, Bligh was promoted to rear-admiral in 1811 and vice-admiral