Plan Your Own Mutiny!
Written: Dec 30 '08 (Updated Apr 15 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Probably the most comprehensive set of drawings of this famous ship available.
Cons: Some plans are reproduced at too small of a scale, and are hard to read.
The Bottom Line: A better-than-average study of one of history's most famous ships. Would have been better if some of the plans were more readable.
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| booknerd85's Full Review: John McKay - The Armed Transport Bounty |
Introduction
Next to "Titanic" and "Bismarck," "Bounty" is perhaps the most famous ship name in history. Fletcher Christian's mutiny against Lt. William Bligh and it's aftermath is one of the best-known stories in maritime history, and something I'm not going to repeat here. But what about the ship itself? I've seen some pretty laughable "novelty" replicas of the Bounty in the past, including one of which depicted her as a two-deck ship of the line! In reality, Bounty started life as a small coal collier named Bethia, built sometime around 1783. Unusually, she was a fully-rigged three-masted ship with a large hold and flat hull shape. The British Admiralty purchased Bethia in 1787 with the intention of converting it to a naval transport to transport breadfruit to England's West Indies colonies, to provide a cheap source of food for the plantation slaves there. Along with dozens of other minor modifications, Bethia's hull was sheathed with copper, the Great Cabin converted into a greenhouse, the cabins rearranged, and four four-pound cannons were added to to the upper deck. Bounty departed from Spithead on December 23, 1787, and, just to be cliche, into history.
About The Book
The Armed Transport Bounty is yet another entry in the long-running "Anatomy of the Ship" series. Originally published in 1989 and republished in 2001 by the Conway Maritime Press, it's a 120 page hardcover book divided into three sections: a text Introduction, a brief section of Photographs, and a full set of keyed Drawings depicting the ship's interior and exterior. The author and illustrator, John McKay, is a Canadian architectural draftsman who's published three other titles in the "Anatomy" series. The introduction discusses Bethia's conversion to Bounty, and the particulars of the ship's boats, hull construction, decoration, armament, steering gear, ground tackle, accommodation, masts and yards, and sails and rigging. It also includes tables showing the dimensions of masts, yards, anchors, and framing members, as well the ship's complement. A dozen photographs, showing the full-size sailing replicas built in 1962 and 1979, are also included.
The Drawings
Besides a few recovered artifacts, all that remains of the HMS Bounty today are charred, waterlogged timbers scattered all over the ocean floor near Pitcairn Island. Creating a truly "accurate" set of plans would be an impossible task, but considering how much research John McKay put into these drawings, I can safely say that these are the most accurate ones available. Based on surviving draughts of the hull, Bligh's logbook and account of the mutiny, and contemporary books on naval architecture and mast-making, they present a detailed study of the ship, even if they are also a "best guess."
The drawings section opens with a set of "General Arrangements" at 1/96 scale, showing Bounty's and Bethia's profiles, sections through the hull at the three masts, and a set of plans showing the hull lines. The next section depicts the structural arrangement of the hull, with drawings of the keel, the bow and stern framing, and overview plans of the entire ship's framing. Four large perspective drawings show the gradual construction of the hull, starting with the framing, through the hull planking, deck and platform beams, and the decks.
The third section focuses on the external hull, opening with two perspective views of the ship sans masts and rigging. The rest of the chapter includes closeups and perspectives of the bow and stern decoration, cross-sections through the hull's sides, and plans showing the layout of copper sheathing. A forth section, on the internal hull, opens with longitudinal (lengthwise) sections through Bounty's and Bethia's hull. Each deck is then depicted in four views - one showing the arrangement of beams and other structural members, another showing the general layout of the deck, a third showing how it appeared on Bethia, and finally, a perspective view of the entire deck. Along with 11 sectional views of the hull, this section also shows the layout of the Great Cabin post-conversion.
Section E, "Fittings," includes drawings of some of the upper deck fittings, such as the steering gear, capstan, binnacle, windlass, lantern, along with the galley stove and anchors. Section F details Bounty's 4-pounder and swivel guns, while Section G covers the masts and spars. This is by far the most detailed part of the book; each mast, yardarm, mast top, and spar (even the studding sail yards!) is detailed with dimensioned plans, the shape of each mast and yard shown is shown in cross-section views, along with perspective views of yard details. Section H focuses on rigging, and is divided into "standing" and "running rigging." A profile view shows each rigging component, complemented by close-up perspective views of each mast, front views showing the rigging associated with each mast, and a plan showing where each rope belayed (was secured). The book finishes with plans showing the shape and layout of each sail, and detailed plans of the 20-foot cutter and the 23-foot launch in which Bligh and his 18 loyalists made their 3,000 mile voyage to Timor in.
My Thoughts/Conclusion
I currently own seven "Anatomy" titles, and besides this one, they're all on steel ships. Something about wooden ships intimidates the hell out of me; I don't have any problem understanding how a boiler feed water system works, but much of the language of 18th century shipbuilding still confuses me, or is unintentionally funny. If someone told you that a wooden ship's frames were really "giant futtocks scarphed together," would you believe him? Well, you should, supposing you don't die of laughter first.
Books like this one act mostly as a "gateway drug" to shipbuilding and naval architecture. Dozens of larger and more detailed books have been created on the subject, but very few of them on a single ship. This book will appeal largely to modelers who want to build the most accurate rendition of Bounty possible. Section H includes a full "rigging schedule," detailing the length and circumference of each rope and line, along with the type and number of blocks used, the location it belays to, and specific information on each rope (whether it was tarred, cable-laid, wormed, etc.) The information on hull construction is decent, but not as detailed as some "Anatomies." McKay's plans are a little rough in places, but charmingly so, and many of the perspective views are created in the style of 18th century engravings. My biggest gripe lies with the overly small size of the rigging and yard plans. The small format of these books makes it impossible to show them at large scale, and at 1/96 scale, or 1/192 in the case of the rigging plans, making out small details is often impossible.
Complaints aside, The Armed Transport Bounty is probably the most exhaustive set of drawings of this ship available, and the price isn't too bad either. Certainly not the best book in the series, but an excellent diversion for maritime enthusiasts.
Other Anatomy of the Ship Book Reviews:
The Flower-Class Corvette Agassiz
The Submarine Alliance
The Battleship Dreadnought
The Fairmile D Motor Torpedo Boat
The Battlecruiser Hood
The Aircraft Carrier Intrepid
The Heavy Cruiser Takao
(Okay, so technically, the ship's actual name was HMAV (His Majesty's Armed Vessel) Bounty, but since everyone has now accepted it "HMS" Bounty, that's what I'm calling it in this review.)
Recommended:
Yes
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booknerd85
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Member: Daryl Carpenter
Location: Manchester, Connecticut
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