Claudene Christian

Who was Claudene Christian?

Claudene Christian was an entrepreneur, sailor, gymnast, singer and beauty queen.

Christian claimed to be a lineal descendant of Fletcher Christian, the leader of the mutiny on the Bounty, and one of founders of the occupation of Pitcairn Island. In August 2012 Christian was interviewed by the Halifax Chronicle Herald, after she joined the volunteer crew of a replica of the original HMS Bounty, built by MGM for a film about the mutiny.

The vessel sailed into Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012. Fourteen members of the ship's complement were able to board a life raft and were saved. The Virginian-Pilot quoted United States Coast Guard Captain Joe Kelly, who described how Christian and the ship's captain Robin Walbridge were about to join the rest of the ship's complement in the life raft, when the Bounty rolled, plunging them into the ocean. Search and rescue crews from Coast Guard helicopters rescued the crew members from the life raft. When Christian was found, ten hours later, she was "unresponsive". Resuscitation was attempted, but she was pronounced dead in a shore-based hospital.

Patrik Jonsson, writing in The Christian Science Monitor, citing the connection between Christian and her supposed great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, called her death "an almost inexplicable twist on that family legacy."