HMS Bounty, also known as HM Armed Vessel Bounty, was a small merchant vessel purchased by the Royal Navy for a botanical mission. The ship was sent to the Pacific Ocean under the command of William Bligh to acquire breadfruit plants and transport them to British possessions in the West Indies. That mission was never completed due to a mutiny led by Acting Lieutenant Fletcher Christian. This was the famous Mutiny on the Bounty. The ship was later burned on Pitcairn Island by the mutineers. The remains of the Bounty were discovered in 1957 by an American adventurer and various parts of it have been salvaged since then.