The mutiny on the Bounty occurred aboard a British Royal Navy ship on 28 April 1789, and has been commemorated by several books, films, and popular songs, many of which take considerable liberties with the facts. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against the commanding officer, William Bligh. The sailors were attracted to the idyllic life on the Pacific Island, and repelled by the alleged cruelty of their Commander (Bligh was not a Captain on the Bounty, at the time, he was a Lieutenant, he became Captain on the second breadfruit trip, on the HMS Providence).
Eighteen mutineers set Commander Bligh and those loyal to him afloat in a small boat. They then proceeded to settle, some in Tahiti in 1789, others in Pitcairn Island with some Tahitan people whom they abducted. The "Bounty" was then burned to avoid capture, and the island remains populated to this day by the descendants of some the original mutineers and the people they abducted.
Commander Bligh and some of the sailors loyal to him made an epic and eventful journey in a small boat to Timor in the Dutch East Indies. From this safe area Bligh returned to the UK and reported the mutiny.