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] > But Bligh had a natural aptitutde for navigation - look how he took his men away safely from the Bounty. but I hve seen a programme about the mutiny which posits that Bligh was considered of low rank -- he was fit for the more mundane tasks, but admitteldy he was not much good at command

] No more than many ships' captain's apptitudes. He was never too far from land, after all. As for command, it's true he got into trouble twice--on the other hand, the Navy thought well enough of him to give him a second chance. There were certainly other ill-favored captains of His Majesty. But Blight seems to have more unlucky in the circumstances of his commands combined with his character, than of low "rank" or "breeding".

Well I persoanlly think very highyly of his abilities - in bringing his men safely home. I htink it was damened impresive. He did it with few instruments and stuck in a small boat. I certaily couldn't. My point was that the technical aspects of seafaring were what eganged Bligh, and this was considered infra dig jsut as the artillery were considered inferor socially to the cavalry. he was also into socioglical writings and spent his time on Tahiti studying hte natives and writing up about them.
With regard to his unfortunate mutiny experiences, I don't think you can put it down to luck. To quote O Wilde to be mutinied agianst once is a misfortune to have it happen tiwce looks like carelessness and three times, well that is more than bad luck. He wasn't a good commander - he was naggy and ill tempered. Possibly given his relatively humble background he over compensated -