The Carroll Standard

HMS Bounty Ship Sinks, 14 Rescued, Two Possibly Missing

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CAPE HATTERAS, N.C (CNN) — Three people engulfed by the Hurricane Sandy-roiled Atlantic strove to reach a life raft after falling overboard Monday, the U.S. Coast Guard said. But only one of them made it.

Watch video of rescue.

When the HMS Bounty‘s crew members realized their lives were in danger off the North Carolina coast in the dark morning hours, they made a short journey they hoped they’d never have to take — to two waiting life rafts. But of the 16 people on board, only 13 initially made it. Three crew members washed overboard, and only one of those three climbed into a lifeboat, Coast Guard Vice Adm. Robert Parker told CNN.

The two people who fell off the sinking Bounty into the frenzied waters face “extraordinary conditions” awaiting rescue, Parker said.

All of the HMS Bounty’s missing crew members were wearing survival suits designed to keep them afloat and warm, “but in these conditions, it’s very problematic,” Parker said, adding a timely deployment of search-and-rescue aircraft and ships gives the missing a chance.

A C-130 aircraft and a helicopter have been monitoring the area around the shipwreck of the Bounty, a tall ship that appeared in some classic adventure films. Two Coast Guard cutters were en route to the scene to help with the search-and-rescue effort, with one expected to arrive later Monday and the other expected Tuesday, Parker said.

The survival drama involving the crippled tall ship and its stranded crew has been playing out over the course of Monday, 90 miles off North Carolina’s Outer Banks, where Hurricane Sandy has been churning 40-mph winds and 18-foot waves.

Coast Guard helicopters plucked 14 people out of two lifeboats around 6:30 a.m., Petty Officer Brandyn Hill said. The boats were designed to hold 25 people, and have canopies for shelter against pelting rain and winds.

All 14 rescued people arrived at the Coast Guard air station in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, later Monday morning. All of them are “in good health,” Parker said.

Initial reports said 17 crew members were aboard the HMS Bounty, but the Coast Guard later corrected that number.

The Coast Guard said it has “diminished search-and-rescue capabilities” as Category 1 Hurricane Sandy batters the U.S. East Coast. More sea rescues prompted by Sandy were reported in Delaware Bay.

The Coast Guard received an emergency call from the ship’s owner Sunday after the 80-foot, three-masted vessel lost power and started taking on water, the Coast Guard said. Rescuers picked up an emergency locator beacon from the vessel, and an HC-130 aircraft was dispatched to the area, where the plane made contact with the crew.

The Bounty was used in the making of 1962′s “Mutiny on the Bounty,” starring Marlon Brando, as well as “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” according to the ship’s Facebook page.

Hurricane Sandy is evoking memories of the nor’easter that struck off New England in 1991 and inspired the best-selling book and movie “The Perfect Storm.” ... continues...

Related:

HMS Bounty replica is "reportedly sunk:" U.S. Coast Guard -- (Reuters) - The replica tall ship HMS Bounty reportedly sank in the path of Hurricane Sandy off North Carolina on Monday, while 14 of the 16 crew members were rescued by helicopter from life rafts, the U.S. Coast Guard said. ... continues...