# Where do they get the ships for all of the pirate movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 13, 2009, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-the-ships-for-all-of-the-pirate-movies/492901 "2009-04-13T00:55:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ficer67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Ficer67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ficer67)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-the-ships-for-all-of-the-pirate-movies/492901/1 "2009-04-13T00:55:09Z")
Remember Cutthroat Island? And the Pirates of the Caribbean movies? What about the Hornblower movies? Anyone remember those? For all of these movies, they needed 17th century ships. So do the movie companies make replicas? How do they get these ships? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-the-ships-for-all-of-the-pirate-movies/492901/2 "2009-04-13T01:49:26Z")
There are replica ships available (a replica of the _Bounty_ made for the 60s Marlon Brando film is still afloat and is used in movies from time to time). They are generally only used for long shots, though; when it looks like it’s on a ship, it’s usually on a set. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-the-ships-for-all-of-the-pirate-movies/492901/3 "2009-04-13T02:03:07Z")
There are quite a few tall ships about. Google “Mystic Sea Port” for example. Many of these are maintained by historic preservation groups that survive on donations. For a large donation they are happy to provide ships and experienced crew to Hollywood. In 1976 dozens of tall ships convirged on New York’s harbor in honor of America’s bicentenial. On a similar note, if you ever saw the movie “Maverick” there were a number of small steam powered launches taking people to and from the large riverboats. These were owned and operated by individual steam enthusiasts, and there was quite a writeup on the production in “Live Steam” magazine. There are people who preserve almost any exotic old thing you can imagine, and most are thrilled at the chance to share thier passions via film. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-the-ships-for-all-of-the-pirate-movies/492901/4 "2009-04-13T02:50:46Z")
Many more tall ships are operated as sail training vessels. For instance, many people trained aboard the “HMS Rose” in the 80s and 90s before it appeared as the “HMS Surprise” in “Master and Commander”. BTW, the “Lady Washington” was used in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”: > **[Lady Washington](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_washington)** > > Lady Washington is a ship name shared by at least four different 80-100 ton-class Sloop-of-war and merchant sailing vessels during two different time periods. The original sailed during the American Revolutionary War and harassed British shipping. Post war, the vessel was used as a merchant trading vessel in the Pacific. A somewhat updated modern replica was created in 1989. The replica has appeared in numerous films and television shows, standing in as other real or fictional ships. > The origin... ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-the-ships-for-all-of-the-pirate-movies/492901/5 "2009-04-13T03:18:54Z")
They also generally build a few partial ships- see the DVD extras on _Master and Commander_ for some amazing stuff about the ships, props, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-the-ships-for-all-of-the-pirate-movies/492901/6 "2009-04-13T04:48:04Z")
They can CGI anything these days. Especially if it’s just a long shot of the ships, I wouldn’t count on there having ever been any real ships at all. For closer shots, as **EJsGirl** mentions, they can just build a partial ship - as much as they need to get the shot and CGI in the background. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-the-ships-for-all-of-the-pirate-movies/492901/7 "2009-04-13T08:04:56Z")
There are plenty of sailships around, whether original or reproductions. The Pride of Baltimore, Gazela of Philadelphia, The Bounty, The Half Moon, The Peking, The replicas of Columbus’ caravels, , those are just a few off the top of my head. I am sure it is extremely easy to find a more complete list. [List of large sailing vessels - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tall_ships) [Tall ship - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_ship) ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-the-ships-for-all-of-the-pirate-movies/492901/8 "2009-04-13T12:24:20Z")
The replica pirate ship built for Polanski’s _Pirates_ has wound up as [a tourist attraction](http://ww1.zenazone.it/monumenti_e_musei/il_galeone_neptune.html) in the harbour at Genoa. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-the-ships-for-all-of-the-pirate-movies/492901/9 "2009-04-13T12:43:22Z")
The prop deparrrrrrrrtment. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-the-ships-for-all-of-the-pirate-movies/492901/10 "2009-04-13T14:04:34Z")
Here’s what the did for Pirates of the Caribbean: > [@](#): > > In the first movie, the Black Pearl was a steel barge with wooden structures built on top to resemble a real ship. In addition, a soundstage set was used to achieve better control over fog machines. For the second and third movies, a floating sailing ship was actually built in the shipyards at Bayou La Batre in Alabama on the hull of ship Sunset to serve as the set, though it is not an authentic tall ship. And the [link.](http://www.funnyphotos.net.au/black-pearl/) If you’ll look at it, the replica is totally fine up close, but from a longer distance it’s all stubby and oddly proportioned. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-the-ships-for-all-of-the-pirate-movies/492901/11 "2009-04-13T14:35:02Z")
> [@EJsGirl](#): > > They also generally build a few partial ships- see the DVD extras on _Master and Commander_ for some amazing stuff about the ships, props, etc. That movie used the [Rose](http://www.tallshiprose.org/) which is based out of a museum in San Diego, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![CutterJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@CutterJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CutterJohn)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-the-ships-for-all-of-the-pirate-movies/492901/12 "2009-04-13T14:41:37Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > There are people who preserve almost any exotic old thing you can imagine, and most are thrilled at the chance to share thier passions via film. Indeed.. My grandfather is a rail car enthusiast.. He has a little yellow box with an engine on it, goes and meets up with _other_ rail car enthusiasts, and they ride on old railroads, seeing the sights. Sadly, there has as yet been no offers from hollywood for the use of his little yellow box, but I’ve no doubt he would be ecstatic if it were to happen. [Like so.](http://motorcar.winkworth.us/exc_rpts/tsby98.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-the-ships-for-all-of-the-pirate-movies/492901/13 "2009-04-13T15:28:46Z")
There was a reality TV show about two years ago called [Pirate Master](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Master). When the producers needed a ship for the contestants to live on, they went out and hired one. However, there just aren’t that many tall ships, and the ones operated by governments and militaries probably don’t hire out. The one they used for the TV show had to be repainted and disguised to look more piratey. And while the contestants were shown as working the ship alone, there were experienced crew on board. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-the-ships-for-all-of-the-pirate-movies/492901/14 "2009-04-13T16:01:59Z")
> [@Ficer67](#): > > Remember Cutthroat Island? As I remember, I was a little let down by how few pirate ships there were in this movie. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-they-get-the-ships-for-all-of-the-pirate-movies/492901/15 "2009-04-13T19:15:27Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > They can CGI anything these days. Especially if it’s just a long shot of the ships, I wouldn’t count on there having ever been any real ships at all. For closer shots, as **EJsGirl** mentions, they can just build a partial ship - as much as they need to get the shot and CGI in the background. I remember a blurb in _Naval History_ magazine when _Master and Commander_ came out. The French warship, referred to in dialogue as being similar to the fearsome American frigates of the day, was actually a CGI replica of the USS _Constitution_.