9:14pm GMT, Monday 29 October 2012

The search continues for two missing crew members of the stricken HMS Bounty, which has sunk near the eye of Hurricane Sandy.

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HMS Bounty has sunk near the eye of Hurricane Sandy, the US Coast Guard has confirmed.

Fourteen crew members have been rescued from the replica tall ship - but two are still missing.

The vessel has now disappeared from view, apart from the top of the mast.

The captain ordered his crew to abandon the ship, which was located 160 miles from the hurricane's centre, after it lost power and started to take on water.

The US Coast Guard said the Bounty's crew had donned cold water survival suits and lifejackets before launching in two 25-man lifeboats with canopies.


Sixteen people were aboard the ship

Two Jayhawk helicopters arrived at the scene and winched 14 people to safety.

"The first Jayhawk crew hoisted five people into the aircraft and a second helicopter arrived and rescued nine people," the Coast Guard said.

They were flown to Air Station Elizabeth City for medical treatment while aircraft remained on the scene to search for the missing two.

Rescuers faced 40mph winds and 18ft waves at the scene, which is 90 miles southeast of Hatteras in North Carolina.

Coast Guard Sector North Carolina received a call from the owner of the 180ft, three mast ship, saying she had lost communication with the vessel's crew late on Sunday evening.

It regained contact with the ship after receiving a signal from the emergency position indicating beacon registered to the Bounty.

The current Bounty was built for the 1962 movie Mutiny On The Bounty with Marlon Brando and has since appeared in Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

The original Bounty is known for the mutiny that took place in Tahiti in 1789.

http://news.sky.com/story/1004214/hms-bounty-sinks-two-crew-members-missing

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