Search halted for missing captain of HMS Bounty

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. - The Coast Guard is halting its search for the captain of a tall ship that sank off the North Carolina coast during Hurricane Sandy.

The Coast Guard said Thursday its search with ships, helicopters, and large planes failed to find 63-year-old Robin Walbridge of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Walbridge was captain of the three-masted tall ship HMS Bounty. It sank before dawn Monday in hurricane-churned waters off Cape Hatteras.

The crew abandoned ship in two life rafts, and the Coast Guard rescued 14 crew members. Forty-two-year-old Claudene Christian was among those rescued, but she died.

The search continued for days despite rough seas in hopes the expert seaman could survive.

The ship was built for the 1962 film "Mutiny on the Bounty" and was featured in several other films.

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  This photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the HMS Bounty, a 180-foot sailboat, submerged in the Atlantic Ocean during Hurricane Sandy approximately 90 miles southeast of Hatteras, N.C., Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard, Petty Officer 2nd Class Tim Kuklewski)