21. Just How Awful Was Captain Bligh?
William Bligh (1754 – 1817) is depicted in popular culture as the epitome of a tyrannical boss and cruel commanding officer. As portrayed in cinematic and fictional accounts of the mutiny on the Bounty, Bligh was an awful, overbearing, and despotic captain. He reportedly overworked, mistreated, and insulted his men, and was a sadist who gratuitously punished any who triggered his insecurities by flogging them to within an inch of their lives. Such cruel conduct, the commonly accepted narrative goes, eventually drove his men to mutiny.
In reality, when viewed within the context and norms of his era, Bligh was a pretty decent ship commander. He was not exactly a teddy bear, and he frequently subjected his men to tongue lashings. However, most captains did the same back in those days. When it came to actual physical lashings, though, Bligh’s men were flogged less frequently than were their peers sailing under other captains. In other words, Bligh preferred to chastise his crew verbally, instead of physically.
