Editing William Bligh (section)

==Naval career==
William Bligh's naval career involved various appointments and assignments. He first rose to prominence as Master of ''Resolution'', under the command of Captain James Cook. Bligh received praise from Cook during what would be the latter's final voyage. Bligh served on three of the same ships on which [[Fletcher Christian#Naval career|Fletcher Christian]] also served simultaneously in his naval career.<ref name="Pacific Union"/>

{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Date
!Rank
!Ship (number of guns)
|-
|1 July 1761 – 21 February 1763||[[Ship's boy]] and captain's servant||{{HMS|Monmouth|1667|6}} (64)
|-
|27 July 1770||[[Able seaman (rank)|Able seaman]]|| rowspan="2" |HMS ''Hunter'' (10)
|-
|5 February 1771|| rowspan="2" |[[Midshipman]]
|-
|22 September 1771||{{HMS|Crescent|1779|6}} (28)
|-
|2 September 1774||Able seaman|| rowspan="2" |HMS ''Ranger''
|-
|30 September 1775||[[Master's mate]]
|-
|20 March 1776 – October 1780|| rowspan="2" |[[Master (naval)|Master]]||{{HMS|Resolution|1771|6}} (12)
|-
|14 February 1781||[[French frigate Belle Poule (1766)|HMS ''Belle Poule'']]
|-
|5 October 1781|| rowspan="2" |Lieutenant||{{HMS|Berwick|1775|6}} (74)
|-
|1 January 1782||{{HMS|Princess Amelia|1757|6}} (80)
|-
|20 March 1782||Sixth lieutenant||{{HMS|Cambridge|1755|6}} (80)
|-
|14 January 1783||colspan=2|''Joins merchant service''
|-
|1785||Commanding lieutenant||Merchant vessel ''Lynx''
|-
|1786||Captain||Merchant vessel ''Britannia''
|-
|1787||colspan=2 |''Returns to Royal Navy''
|-
|16 August 1787||Lieutenant commander|Commanding lieutenant||[[HMS Bounty|HM Armed Vessel ''Bounty'']]
|-
|14 November 1790||[[Commander]]||[[HMS Falcon (1782)|HM Brig-sloop ''Falcon'']] (14)
|-
|15 December 1790|| rowspan="7" |[[Captain (naval)|Captain]]||{{HMS|Medea|1778|6}} (28) (for rank only)
|-
|16 April 1791 – 1793||{{HMS|Providence|1791|6}} (28)
|-
|16 April 1795||{{HMS|Calcutta|1795|6}} (24)
|-
|7 January 1796||{{HMS|Director|1784|6}} (64)
|-
|18 March 1801||{{HMS|Glatton|1795|6}} (56)
|-
|12 April 1801||{{HMS|Monarch|1765|6}} (74)
|-
|8 May 1801 – 28 May 1802||{{HMS|Irresistible|1782|6}} (74)
|-
|March 1802 – May 1803 || colspan=2 | [[Peace of Amiens]]
|-
|2 May 1804||Captain||{{HMS|Warrior|1781|6}} (74)
|-
|14 May 1805|| colspan=2 |Appointed [[Governor of New South Wales]]
|-
|27 September 1805||Captain||{{HMS|Porpoise|1804|6}} (12), voyage to New South Wales
|-
|13 August 1806 – 26 January 1808 ||colspan=2|Governor of New South Wales
|-
|31 July 1808||[[Commodore (Royal Navy)|Commodore]]||HMS ''Porpoise'', Tasmania
|-
|3 April 1810 –<br>25 October 1810||Commodore||{{HMS|Hindostan|1804|6}} (50), returning to England.
|-
|31 July 1811|| colspan=2 | Appointed [[Rear-Admiral of the Blue]] (backdated to 31 July 1810)
|-
|12 August 1812|| colspan=2 | Appointed [[Rear-Admiral of the White]]
|-
|4 December 1813|| colspan=2 | Appointed [[Rear-Admiral of the Red]]
|-
|4 June 1814|| colspan=2 | Appointed [[Vice-Admiral of the Blue]]
|}
In the early 1780s, while in the merchant service, Bligh became acquainted with a young man named [[Fletcher Christian]] (1764–1793), who was eager to learn navigation from him. Bligh took Christian under his wing, and the two became friends.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fletcher Christian |url=https://www.thelakedistrict.org/historical-figures/fletcher-christian/ |website=The Lake District |access-date=17 April 2023}}</ref>