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Warship

TSOCGrandBarnacle — The *Grand Barnacle* was the biggest warship that ever sailed the Caribbean

"Questions? What questions could you possibly have for me?"
"Only the obvious ones: how did it come to be that the greatest warship ever to sail the Caribbean escaped notice until now? Where did said warship, unknown to the Royal Navy, and, worse, the Crown, come from?"

―Jack Sparrow and British Commodore^[src]

Warship was a type of ship that was built and primarily intended for combat. Warships were usually built in a completely different way than merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships were designed to withstand damage and were usually faster and more maneuverable than merchant ships. Unlike a merchant ship, a warship typically only carried weapons, ammunition and supplies for its own crew (rather than merchant cargo). Warships usually belonged to a navy, though they have sometimes been operated by individuals (privateers) or companies (East India Trading Company).

Until the 17th century, it was common for merchant ships to be pressed into naval service and not unusual for more than half a fleet to be composed of merchant ships. Warships have also often been used as troop carriers or supply ships, such as by the French Royal Navy in the 17th century.

Notable warships[]

"We have a fleet of warships that want to blow us out of the sea, and they are nary a league behind us."

―Edward Teague^[src]

Behind the scenes[]

Warships first appear in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl; although it wasn't clarified onscreen,^[4] the HMS Dauntless was said to be within the British armada as "one of the Empire's premiere warships" in the film's production notes.^[5] The term "warship" first appeared in Enter... the Scarecrow! comic from Disney Adventures.^[6]
The design of the Flying Dutchman was partially inspired by old Dutch fluyts—17th-century vessels which resembled galleons—and more specifically, the Vasa, a massive Swedish warship which sank in Stockholm's harbor upon its maiden voyage in 1628 (the ship was salvaged in 1961 and housed in a special museum in the Swedish capital). With its high, heavily ornamented stern, the ship provided a rich foundation for Rick Heinrichs' wilder and more fantastical designs.^[11]^[12]