There is a famous event involving the mutiny on the HMS Bounty. With the most popular personalities being Lieutenant Fletcher Christian,and Captain William Bligh. The impetus for the mutiny was the tyrranical nature of the captain and the many atrocities he committed against his officers and the crew. To get a perspective of this you can watch any of the film depictions of the ill fated voyage, or even two of the Horatio Hornblower movies, Mutiny and Retribution.
On a ship the captain is lord and master. Anything he says is law and any action that is considered to undermine his authority is met with severe punishment, including execution. The officers are there to support the authority of the captain over the ship and the crew.
Life on a sailing vessel, especially on a voyage that can last quite a long time, is a very delicate balance. Keeping the morale of the crew up is a constant daily struggle. Conversly it also takes quite a bit of strain for a crew, much less the officers, to consider committing mutiny, especially since the consequence for failure is death. So the treatment of the crew was such that Fletcher Christian, and other officers, felt the need to take over the ship and set Captain Bligh adrift in a boat along with 18 loyal members of the crew.
What you may not know.
After the munity those who ramained onboard went back to Tahiti, which was the first destination of the voyage. Their mission was to pick up breadfruit saplings from Tahiti and take them to Jamaica to be used to provide food for the slave population there. The mutiny occurred after they left Tahiti. Most of those who mutinied stayed at Tahiti while 9 others, including Christian, John Adams (an orphan after whom the capital of Pitcairn Island is named after), and Midshipman Robert Pitcairn (obviously the island was named after him).
They lived on the island for 18 years before being discovered due to an cartographer incorrectly plotting its location. They were discovered by a whaling vessel at which time it was discovered that only one of the original 9 mutineers that made it were still alive.
The population of the island has had its ups and downs including when in 1857 the entire population, which was close to 200, emmigrated to Norfolk Island, which is located 3,700 miles to the east; however, some of the residents returned the following year. Now there are roughly 50 people living on the island. It is considered a part of the British Commonwealth.
The only way to reach the island is by boat, ferried over from Norfolk Island. They do have a website where you can learn more about their history and purchase some of their locally made products, including honey, honey soap, and some gift shop items.
