Coast Guard Suspends Search For HMS Bounty Captain

The Coast Guard has suspended its search for the captain of the HMS Bounty, which sank in rough seas off North Carolina during Hurricane Sandy.

According to Reuters, the Coast Guard has been searching for four days for Robin Walbridge, 63, since the tall ship was lost on Monday. Fourteen members of the crew were airlifted to safety after sending out a distress call and abandoning the ship.

Another crew member, 42-year-old Claudene Christian, was found unresponsive several hours later and was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital.

New London was the last stop for the ship before the disaster. According to the Bounty's Facebook page, the Bounty arrived in New London on Oct. 23. The crew met with members of the USS Mississippi, a Virginia-class submarine assigned to Sub Base New London in Groton, and embarked on a day sail with them. The Bounty departed New London on Oct. 25, Walbridge's birthday, to sail for St. Petersburg, Fla.

According to Walbridge's profile on the Bounty's website, the captain grew up in St. Petersburg and had been sailing since the age of 18. He became the captain of the Bounty in 1995.

Facebook posts prior to the vessel's sinking defended the decision to sail as the hurricane approached the East Coast, saying the ship would be safer at sea than in port. Other posts linked to information on sailing methods supporting this idea.

"I think we are going to be into this for several days, the weater [sic] looks like even after the eye goes by it will linger for a couple of days," Walbridge said in an Oct. 28 communication to the director of the HMS Bounty Foundation that was posted to the page. "We are just going to keep trying to go fast and squeese [sic] by the storm and land as fast as we can."

The page reported at about 11 p.m. on Oct. 28 that one of the ship's generators had failed and the ship was taking on water. It said an urgent marine information broadcast for the Bounty was issued soon after but then rescinded. The post said Walbridge would determine whether Coast Guard assistance was necessary the next morning.

The 180-foot ship was built for the 1962 film "Mutiny on the Bounty" and also appeared in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."

The Bounty has set up a relief organization for the survivors and the families of Christian and Walbridge. Donations may be made at the ship's website or via PayPal by e-mailing HMSBounty2012@yahoo.com.