Author(s): John McKay; Ron Coleman

Military

The Pandora was a 24-gun Sixth Rate built at Deptford in 1779. The 20- and 24-gun classes were the smallest regularly commanded by a Post Captain and they were consequently known as post ships; they were also the smallest frigate-built ships on the Navy List. The Pandora is best known for her voyage to Tahiti which was undertaken to bring back the Bounty mutineers. Fourteen of them were captured at Tahiti but four of them were drowned when Pandora ran aground on 29 August 1791 on the Great Barrier Reef on her return journey. The surviving ten were eventually brought back to Portsmouth and court-martialled. Three of them were hung. The site of the wreck was discovered and has been extensively excavated by a team led by Ron Coleman.