PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard has rescued 14 members of the crew forced to abandon the tall ship HMS Bounty caught in Hurricane Sandy off the North Carolina Outer Banks.

The Coast Guard is searching for two other crew members. It corrected the total number of crew to 16 from 17.

Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Brandyn Hill says 14 people were rescued by two Coast Guard helicopters about 6:30 a.m. today.

The survivors were being taken to Air Station Elizabeth City on the North Carolina coast.

The director of the HMS Bounty Organization, Tracie Simonin, said that the tall ship left Connecticut last week for St. Petersburg, Fla. She said the crew had been in constant contact with the National Hurricane Center and tried to go around the storm.