The Associated Press
Friday, Oct. 8, 1999; 1:31 p.m. EDT

LONDON –– Richard Hough, a naval historian whose prolific publishing career included books on Captain Bligh and a biography of British war hero Lord Mountbatten, has died. He was 77.

Hough, who died Thursday after a long history of heart problems, wrote more than 90 books.

His account of Captain Bligh and the mutiny on the Bounty, called "Captain Bligh and Mr. Christian," formed the basis of the 1984 film, "The Bounty," starring Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins.

It was while researching the book that Hough traveled to Pitcairn Island and met Mountbatten, the grand-uncle of Prince Charles who was killed by an Irish Republican Army bomb in 1979.

Hough was commissioned to write the authorized biographies of Mountbatten's parents, Louis and Victoria, and later embarked on an unauthorized account of Mountbatten's own life that caused friction in the family.

The book, "Mountbatten: Hero of our Time," was a critical and commercial success.

Hough's plans for a naval career were thwarted early on because he was color-blind, but he was accepted for air crew training by the Royal Air Force.

In 1941, he trained at a Los Angeles flying school where he was soon taken under the wing of Hollywood's elite. At the age of 19, he fulfilled his fantasy of dancing with Ginger Rogers.

Two years later, Hough was flying Hurricanes in Britain, and he celebrated his 21st birthday by shooting down two German fighter bombers over the North Sea.

In 1947, he started his career in publishing, writing a number of children's books and covering car races for the Manchester Guardian newspaper and reviewing books for The Daily Telegraph.

Hough is survived by his second wife, Judy Taylor, and four daughters from his first marriage. Funeral plans were not announced.