23. John Fryer, Bounty‘s master, contributed to the defamation of William Bligh
John Fryer was Bounty‘s sailing master, and left Portsmouth as the ship’s second in command. After Bounty failed to navigate Cape Horn Bligh did not demote Fryer, but he promoted Christian over his head as his second-in-command. During the voyage of the launch and its aftermath, Bligh was frequently displeased with Fryer’s actions (or lack of them). During his court-martial, Bligh made it clear that Fryer had done little or nothing to oppose the mutineers, failing to even protest verbally. In short, William Bligh had little use for John Fryer, nor his brother-in-law Robert Tinkler (another veteran of Bounty‘s launch), and made his opinions clear.
During his absence on the second breadfruit voyage (which was completed successfully) Bligh was roundly criticized by Fryer in his own account of the mutiny and its aftermath. Fryer’s highly self-serving account gave credit for the voyage of the launch to himself and even obliquely accused Bligh of being the one pilfering food. Purcell, another with an axe to grind with Bligh, agreed with Fryer’s account. So did Robert Tinkler. None of the other survivors of the launch did, and records of Bligh’s naval career, before and after the Bounty, establish that he was an enlightened naval officer of his day, concerned with the health and welfare of his men. His record also establishes him as one of the greatest seamen, navigators, and cartographers of all time. But to posterity, he remains the symbol of tyranny and cruelty, Captain Bligh of the Bounty.