HMS Pandora was a 24-gun frigate of the Royal Navy, built by Adams and Barnard at Deptford, and launched on 17 May 1779. Frigate is a name which has been used for several distinct types of warships at different times. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ... Deptford is an area of the London Borough of Lewisham, on the south bank of the River Thames in south-east London. ... May 17 is the 137th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (138th in leap years). ... 1779 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

After the news of the mutiny on the Bounty reached England on 1790-03-15 the Admiralty dispatched Pandora to capture the mutineers and bring them to justice. Captain Edward Edwards took command on 6 August 1790 and sailed from England on 7 November 1790. The mutineers turning Lt Bligh and some of the officers and crew adrift from HMAV Bounty, 29 April 1789 The Mutiny on the Bounty was a mutiny aboard a British Royal Navy ship in 1789 that has been made famous by several books and films. ... 1790 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... March 15 is the 74th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (75th in Leap years). ... Old Admiralty House, Whitehall, London, Thomas Ripley, architect, 1723-26, was not admired by his contemporaries and earned him some scathing couplets from Alexander Pope The Admiralty was historically the authority in the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. ... August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining. ... 1790 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... November 7 is the 311th day of the year (312th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 54 days remaining. ... 1790 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Pandora reached Tahiti on 1791-03-23. Five of the men from the Bounty came on board voluntarily within 24 hours of the Pandora's arrival, and nine more were arrested in a few weeks by armed parties sent ashore to round them up. These fourteen men were imprisoned in a makeshift prison cell on the Pandora's quarter-deck, which they ironically called "Pandora's Box". On 1791-05-08, Pandora left Tahiti, and spent about three months visiting islands to the west of Tahiti in search of Bounty and the remaining mutineers, without finding anything except flotsam — some spars and a yard. Map of Tahiti Tahiti is the largest island of French Polynesia. ... 1791 (MDCCXCI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). ... 1791 (MDCCXCI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (129th in leap years). ...

Heading west, making for the Torres Strait, Pandora ran aground 1791-08-29 on the Great Barrier Reef. She sank the next day, and 31 of the crew and four of the prisoners were lost. The remaining 89 of the ship's company and ten prisoners, released from their cell at the last minute, assembled in four small boats and sailed for Timor, arriving there on 1791-09-16. The Torres Strait - Cape York Peninsula is at the top; several of the Torres Strait Islands can be seen strung out towards Papua New Guinea (North is downwards in this image) The Torres Strait is a body of water which lies between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. ... 1791 (MDCCXCI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... August 29 is the 241st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (242nd in leap years), with 124 days remaining. ... Satellite image of a part of the Great Barrier Reef. ... Map of Timor Timor Island from space, November 1989 (North is to the bottom of the image). ... 1791 (MDCCXCI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ... September 16 is the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years). ...

The wreck was discovered in 1977 and was immediately declared a protected site under the Australian Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976. The Queensland Museum has been excavating the wreck and is piecing together the Pandora puzzle. Queensland Museum - 1879-1899 later, the building housed the State Library Queensland Museum was first founded by the Queensland Government in 1862, and had several temporary homes until the Government built a home for the Museum in William Street, Brisbane. ... Excavation is the best-known and most commonly used technique within the science of archaeology. ...

Descendants of the 9 mutineers who 'got away' (from the Pandora) still live on Pitcairn Island, the refuge Fletcher Christian found and where the Bounty was burned and scuttled. Their hiding place was not discovered until 1808 when the sealer Topaz (Capt Mayhew Folger) happened on the tiny uncharted island. By that time all the mutineers -except John Adams (aka Alexander Smith)- were dead, most having died under violent circumstances.

See also

• HMS Pandora for other ships of this name

Five vessels of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Pandora after the mythological Pandora: Pandora, launched in 1779, was a 24-gun frigate. ...

External links

• Queensland Museum - HMS Pandora
• Museum of Tropical Queensland - HMS Pandora