Coast Guard Begins Probe into HMS Bounty's Sinking

Taken down by Hurricane Sandy

A U.S. Coast Guard hearing opens Tuesday to investigate the October sinking of the replica ship HMS Bounty off Cape Hatteras and the deaths of her captain and a crew member as the vessel fought unsuccessfully to outmaneuver Hurricane Sandy.

At issue in the hearings are the actions of the ship's captain, Robin Walbridge, who chose to head out to sea despite the approach of Sandy, one of the largest storms in decades to hit the U.S. East Coast.

The reproduction HMS Bounty was built for the 1962 filming of Mutiny on the Bounty, the story of the seizure in 1789 of the British ship from Captain William Bligh in the South Pacific.