The Flying Dutchman (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Encyclopedia
The Flying Dutchman, or simply referred to as the Dutchman, is a powerful ship of the Caribbean seas in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)
Pirates of the Caribbean is a series of fantasy-adventure films directed by Gore Verbinski and Rob Marshall , written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...

. The ship made its first appearance in Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is a 2006 adventure fantasy film and the second film of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, following Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl . It was directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, and produced by...

under the command of the fictional captain, Davy Jones
Davy Jones (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Davy Jones is a fictional character and antagonist in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Davy Jones is the captain of the Flying Dutchman , roaming the seas in search of souls to serve upon his vessel for a century...

. The story and attributes of the ship were inspired by the actual Flying Dutchman of nautical lore.
During filming, Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...

 referred to it as "the Davy Jones Crocodile Machine" after forgetting its actual name.

Background

As explained in the movie, the character of Davy Jones was given the Flying Dutchman by Calypso, his lover, to ferry souls lost at sea to the afterlife. When she neglected to meet him after his first ten years of duty, he was both heartbroken and enraged. He abandoned his duties and chose to wander the seas, doing as he pleased. This violation of his duty placed a curse on Jones and his crew, slowly transforming them into monsters. Apparently, the Dutchman is also believed to be nautical lore in the Pirates universe, as character James Norrington
James Norrington
James Norrington, CB is a fictional character in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean film series. He is played by English actor Jack Davenport.-Character history:...

 mockingly remarks, "[Davy Jones]...captain of the Flying Dutchman?." The fictional Dutchman is also known as a fearful ship to those who are superstitious, and able to destroy any vessel (using the Kraken).

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

In Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is a 2006 adventure fantasy film and the second film of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, following Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl . It was directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, and produced by...

, the Dutchman makes its first appearance when it rises from the sea to claim its victims' souls following a Kraken attack (instigated by Davy Jones
Davy Jones (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Davy Jones is a fictional character and antagonist in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Davy Jones is the captain of the Flying Dutchman , roaming the seas in search of souls to serve upon his vessel for a century...

). The Dutchman, able to sail on the sea and underwater, emits terror and potency to those unfortunate enough to cross its path. Davy Jones captures Will Turner
Will Turner
William "Will" Turner, Jr. is a central character in the first three titles of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series produced by Walt Disney Pictures. He is played by Orlando Bloom . Will is a blacksmith's apprentice working in Port Royal...

 from the ship wreckage and demands that Jack Sparrow settle his overdue debt. Sparrow bargains for his life, and Jones finally agrees to accept 100 souls in exchange for Sparrow's, keeping Turner as "a good faith payment".

Will is reunited with his father, "Bootstrap Bill" Turner, who is an indentured sailor aboard the Flying Dutchman. Shipboard life is harsh, and the crew is often whipped by the cruel boatswain
Boatswain
A boatswain , bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun is an unlicensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship. The boatswain supervises the other unlicensed members of the ship's deck department, and typically is not a watchstander, except on vessels with small crews...

, Jimmylegs. Will is also flogged, although it is his father who delivers the lash to spare his son from the boatswain's sadistic hand. With his father's help, Will escapes the Dutchman, but when the ship he reaches is attacked by the Kraken, he sneaks back aboard as a stowaway, making his way to Isla Cruces where Jones' heart is buried in the Dead Man's Chest. Will finds Elizabeth and Sparrow on Isla Cruces. The three escape the island on the Black Pearl
Black Pearl
The Black Pearl, originally Wicked Wench, is a fictional ship in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. In the screenplay, the Black Pearl is easily recognized by her distinctive black hull and sails. The ship was originally named Wicked Wench before she was ordered burned and sunk by Lord Beckett...

, pursued by the Dutchman (who loses the Pearl in a less than a minute). Jones unleashes the Kraken, which attacks the Pearl and drags Sparrow to Davy Jones' Locker.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

In Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Captain Davy Jones now serves Lord Cutler Beckett, who possesses Jones' heart and forcibly controls him and the Flying Dutchman, which is first seen rising from the sea, mercilessly destroying pirate ships with its powerful gun. This irritates Lord Beckett who wants survivors to interrogate, so to ensure Jones does as he is ordered to. Beckett places Admiral James Norrington and a squad of East India Trading company marines and the Dead Man's chest placed on board as well to remind Jones he is under their control. The Dutchman accompanies Beckett's flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

, Endeavour in its mission to eradicate piracy. When the Dutchman attacks Sao Feng's ship, the Empress, it takes its crew captive (including Elizabeth Swann
Elizabeth Swann
Elizabeth Swann is a major character in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series produced by Walt Disney Pictures. She appears in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and its two sequels, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End...

 who is made captain by the dying Sao Feng). Elizabeth and her crew escape the Dutchman with Admiral Norrington's help, although he is killed by a deranged Bootstrap Bill Turner. Jones and his crew attempt a mutiny against the East India Trading Company marines stationed on board, but Mr. Mercer, Beckett's henchman, proclaims the ship is under his command, temporarily subduing the uprising.

The Dutchman leads the East India Trading Co. armada in battle against the Brethren Court. The Dutchman and the Black Pearl
Black Pearl
The Black Pearl, originally Wicked Wench, is a fictional ship in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. In the screenplay, the Black Pearl is easily recognized by her distinctive black hull and sails. The ship was originally named Wicked Wench before she was ordered burned and sunk by Lord Beckett...

engage in battle while entering a monstrous maelstrom
Maelstrom
A maelstrom is a very powerful whirlpool; a large, swirling body of water. A free vortex, it has considerable downdraft. The power of tidal whirlpools tends to be exaggerated by laymen. There are virtually no stories of large ships ever being sucked into a maelstrom, although smaller craft are in...

 (caused by Calypso, Jones' ex-lover). Jones is killed when, aided by Sparrow, the mortally wounded Will Turner stabs Jones' heart, and Jones falls off board into the maelstrom. The Dutchman is also sucked into the maelstrom as Swann and Sparrow escape. The Dutchman 's crew carve out the now-dead Will Turner's heart (as whoever kills the Dutchman's captain must replace him) and place it in the Dead Man's Chest. The Dutchman re-emerges from the maelstrom with Captain Will Turner at the helm. Joining forces with the Pearl, the two ships face off against the Endeavour. Stunned by this unexpected alliance, Beckett is unable to respond, and his crew abandons ship just as the Endeavour is being destroyed and Beckett is killed.

The Dutchman 's crew revert to human form and the ship reverts to its original form as well, and Will and Elizabeth meet on an island and consummate their marriage. Will departs at sunset to fulfill his destiny as the Dutchman's captain, leaving his disembodied heart in Elizabeth's care. Will frees Bootstrap Bill from his servitude, but Bootstrap decides to remain with his son as part of his new crew. Following the end credits: ten years later, the Dutchman reappears upon the horizon amid a green flash
Green flash
Green flashes and green rays are optical phenomena that occur shortly after sunset or before sunrise, when a green spot is visible, usually for no more than a second or two, above the sun, or it may resemble a green ray shooting up from the sunset point. Green flashes are a group of phenomena...

 as Elizabeth and her son await its arrival. And as sun sets, he is seen with the ship.

Characteristics & Armament

The look of the fictional ship was inspired by the seventeenth century Dutch "fluyt
Fluyt
A fluyt, fluit, or flute is a Dutch type of sailing vessel originally designed as a dedicated cargo vessel. Originating from the Netherlands in the 16th century, the vessel was designed to facilitate transoceanic delivery with the maximum of space and crew efficiency...

" vessels and the Vasa, a real-life Swedish warship which sank in 1628. However, the ship itself resembles a sailfish
Sailfish
'Sailfish' are two species of fish in the genus Istiophorus, living in warmer sections of all the oceans of the world. They are predominately blue to gray in color and have a characteristic erectile dorsal fin known as a sail, which often stretches the entire length of the back...

. The Flying Dutchman has five staysails making it easier to sail against the wind than running before the wind. The ship is more organic plant matter than timber and sail, heavily encrusted with marine life that reflects its strong ties to the sea. This may be the result of the fictitious Dutchman often being submerged. Also, it is apparently a result of the curse that turned the crew into monsters as when broken with Davy Jones' death, the ship itself loses all of the marine life attached to it and reverts to its original form like its crew does.

The fictional Flying Dutchman is heavily armed with port and starboard guns. It carries 46 broadside guns, 23 on each side; 18 twelve pound guns are located on the main deck, 20 twenty-four pounders on the gun deck
Gun deck
The term gun deck originally referred to a deck aboard a ship that was primarily used for the mounting of cannon to be fired in broadsides. However, on many smaller vessels such as frigates and unrated vessels the upper deck, forecastle and quarterdeck bore all of the cannons but were not referred...

, and 8 twelve pounders on the upper deck: 4 on the quarter-deck
Deck (ship)
A deck is a permanent covering over a compartment or a hull of a ship. On a boat or ship, the primary deck is the horizontal structure which forms the 'roof' for the hull, which both strengthens the hull and serves as the primary working surface...

 and 4 in the forecastle
Forecastle
Forecastle refers to the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters...

. The gunports on the gun deck are in the shape of demon faces, each one with a unique facial expression, with the ports appearing at the mouths. Its full broadside
Broadside
A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous fire in naval warfare.-Age of Sail:...

 contains 23 cannonballs
Round shot
Round shot is a solid projectile without explosive charge, fired from a cannon. As the name implies, round shot is spherical; its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the gun it is fired from.Round shot was made in early times from dressed stone, but by the 17th century, from iron...

, called shot, and weighs 396 lbs. (179.622 kg). On the bow however, she mounts a pair of bow chaser
Chase gun
The chase guns, usually distinguished as bow chasers and stern chasers were cannons mounted in the bow or stern of a sailing ship...

s, each in the form of a triple-barreled gun. Both triple guns fire six pound cannonballs. Each separate barrel fires individually, but the trio rotates to present a fresh barrel to fire again in the style of a Gatling gun
Gatling gun
The Gatling gun is one of the best known early rapid-fire weapons and a forerunner of the modern machine gun. It is well known for its use by the Union forces during the American Civil War in the 1860s, which was the first time it was employed in combat...

. The empty barrel can then be reloaded for its next turn. This enables the Flying Dutchman to continually fire at ships it is pursuing. When not in use, the bow chasers are concealed behind two doors carved in the shape of an angry demon's maw. A picture of the Dutchman's stern shown in the Essential Guide to Pirates of the Caribbean also depicts two stern gun-ports, but it is unknown what kind of guns comprise this pair.

The Flying Dutchman also has the Kraken Hammer, a massive hammer in the form of a capstan to summon the mighty Kraken. The Kraken can also be summoned by the Black Spot. Any member of Davy Jones' crew can deliver the mark to a victim, but only Jones can remove it.

The Flying Dutchman is supposedly the "fastest ship" in the Caribbean, however the only ship that can surpass the Dutchman for speed is The Black Pearl. "Without the wind the Dutchman is uncatchable, but with the wind the Black Pearl has the advantage" Adapted Quote from Joshamee Gibbs- Dead Man's Chest

Life Aboard

Similarly, because Jones abandoned his soul-ferrying duty, he and the crew bear a curse that gradually mutates them into anthropomorphic amalgamations
Amalgamation (fiction)
Amalgamation or amalgam, when used to refer to a fictional character or place, refers to one that was created by combining, or is perceived to be a combination, of several other previously existing characters or locations...

 of sea creatures. In the Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is a 2006 adventure fantasy film and the second film of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, following Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl . It was directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, and produced by...

DVD commentary, writers Ted Elliott
Ted Elliott
Ted Elliott is an American screenwriter. Along with his writing partner Terry Rossio, Elliott has written some of the most successful American films of the past 15 years, including Aladdin, Shrek and Pirates of the Caribbean. In 2004, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Writers Guild...

 and Terry Rossio
Terry Rossio
Terry Rossio is an American screenwriter.Rossio was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After graduating from Saddleback High School in Santa Ana, California, he went on to study at California State University, Fullerton where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Communications, with an emphasis in radio,...

 mention that the crew actually become less and less human until they are literally absorbed into the Flying Dutchman (Davy Jones knows this, but fails to inform new recruits). One character, Wyvern, is so transformed that he is now integrated into the ship's hull. The crew has little or no human flesh remaining on them, although newer members, like Bootstrap Bill, are only partially encrusted with sea life.
Nearly all the crew members' time in servitude is spent toiling on board the ship. For amusement, the crew play a game called Liar's Dice
Liar's dice
Liar's dice, or Liar dice, with roots originating in South America and popularized in early Spanish History, was brought to Spain by the Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro during the 16th century. It became extremely popular in Hong Kong and consequencially China...

, in which they gamble years of service. In one scene of 'Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is a 2006 adventure fantasy film and the second film of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, following Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl . It was directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, and produced by...

', the crew works on well into the night, and even in the rain, while Davy Jones plays on with his pipe organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...

. When Will is wrongly blamed for causing a work disruption, the boatswain
Boatswain
A boatswain , bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun is an unlicensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship. The boatswain supervises the other unlicensed members of the ship's deck department, and typically is not a watchstander, except on vessels with small crews...

 proclaims that he is to be punished with a whip
Whip
A whip is a tool traditionally used by humans to exert control over animals or other people, through pain compliance or fear of pain, although in some activities whips can be used without use of pain, such as an additional pressure aid in dressage...

. In a later scene, the crew is excited when Jones commands the ship to submerge, and others continue on their duties unhampered. However, it is likely that, as Will is now captain, things have changed onboard the ship, and after he becomes captain, the crew are all returned to human form, and Will grants them voluntary leave from the ship. Only his father, Bootstrap Bill, appears to remain on as crew.

External links

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