Maddy McAllister, HMS Pandora is Australia’s most scientifically excavated shipwreck – yet it still holds secrets, The Conversation, 24 November 2025
In 1791, the British naval vessel HMS Pandora sank on the Great Barrier Reef while pursuing the mutineers from the HMS Bounty. The mutineers, led by Christian Fletcher, staged an uprising against their captain Lieutenant William Bligh in 1789, forcing Bligh and his supporters out to sea in a launch.
This infamous act sent the fugitives fleeing across the Pacific, and set the stage for Pandora’s ill-fated pursuit.