Pirates of the Caribbean ship boarded by thieves in Greenock

Published on Monday 14 September 2009 11:51

A SHIP featured in one of the Pirates of the Caribbean films has been targeted by thieves, police said today.

Clothing with the ship's insignia, a life ring, an American flag and a waterproof suit were stolen in the early hours of Saturday as HMS Bounty was docked at Custom House Quay in Greenock, Inverclyde.

A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said they were called at 7.20am on Saturday about the theft, which took place at around 4.10am.

"The immersion suit and life ring were later recovered," the spokeswoman added.

Police are looking for two men seen around the time of the thefts.

Both men are aged between 16– and 18-years-old, have slim builds and

light brown hair.

One of the men is about 5ft 10in and wore jeans and possibly a green sweatshirt or jacket.

The other man is about 6ft and wore a black and white or blue and white hooded top and jeans.

The original HMS Bounty was the scene of a mutiny more than 200 years ago when Master's Mate Fletcher Christian, angered and humiliated by continual abuse from Captain Bligh, took control of the ship.

It had left England in 1787 but three weeks out of Tahiti and en route to the West Indies with a cargo of breadfruit plants, Christian and the mutineers put 18 crew in the Bounty's launch with Bligh.

Bligh navigated the launch more than 3,000 miles to safety in 41 days using only a sextant and a pocket watch, according to the tallshipbounty.org website, which provides information on the replica ship and the ports where it docks.

The ship has also had her time on the silver screen.

In the 1960s she was in Mutiny on the Bounty starring Marlon Brando and, more recently, alongside actor Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man's Chest.