Flying Dutchman

"Aye. The same terrible vessel whose very timbers are cut from the bodies and souls of doomed seamen."

- Torrents to Jack Sparrow

The Flying Dutchman was a dreaded supernatural galleon captained by the legendary Davy Jones. The Dutchman was first gifted to Jones by his love, the sea goddess Calypso, Calypso granted Jones captaincy of the ship with the intention that he would ferry the souls of drowned seamen into the next world for at least ten years, he would then be free to return to Calypso, who promised to meet him on land after his captaincy was complete. However Calypso betrayed Jones and in his heartbreak he cut his still beating heart from his chest and abandoned his duty, instead wrecking havoc on the seas, forcing dying sailors into one hundred years of service aboard the Flying Dutchman and unleashing the Kraken upon merchant and pirate vessels alike.

Many centuries later, the crew of the Black Pearl would run afoul of the Dutchman due to the debts of her captain Jack Sparrow. Sparrow tried to escape service aboard the Flying Dutchman by possessing the heart of Davy Jones. Jack failed in his attempts and the heart instead found its way into the possession of Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company.

With the heart under his control Beckett sent the Dutchman out to sink countless pirate ships across the seven seas, eventually forcing a final confrontation with the Brethren Court off the coast of shipwreck cove. The Flying Dutchman became locked in titanic battle with the Black Pearl both ships circling a massive maelstrom. In the midst of the chaos William Turner stabbed the heart killing Davy Jones and replacing him as captain of the Dutchman. With Jones's death both the ship and its crew returned to normal and Turner set about fulfilling the duty for which the ship was originally designed for.

Ferrying the dead
"The Dutchman needs a living heart, or there'll be no captain. And if there's no captain, there's no one to have the key."

- Wyvern to William Turner



Command of the Flying Dutchman was originally given to Davy Jones by the sea goddess Calypso. The two were in love, and Jones agreed to an immortal life, with a single day out of every decade to spend with his love. In exchange, Jones would ferry the souls of those who died at sea into the afterlife, as well as saving those who were shipwrecked and drowning. The dimension these souls passed through became known as Davy Jones' Locker, and the Flying Dutchman could pass through it accompanied by the green flash. However, Jones was forsaken by Calypso, who did not meet him on his first day ashore. The heartbroken and bitter Jones refused to continue with the duty, and the ship itself became cursed, just as Jones was. Its crew slowly transformed into amalgamations of sea creatures, and the ship itself became crusted with barnacles, sea life, and the bodies of those crew members who stayed in her service too long.

An eternity of service
"Once you've sworn an oath to the Dutchman there's no leaving it, not until your debt is paid."

- Bootstrap Bill Turner to William Turner

Having rejected his true duty, Davy Jones set himself up as the lord of the sea, toying with the fates of those souls he had once sworn to serve. Jones commonly offered dying men a choice: either embrace death or postpone the judgment and serve for one hundred years aboard the Flying Dutchman. However, because of a gambling game referred to as Liar's dice, in which sailors wagered their years of service, some remained onboard far longer. In fact, some had their very souls lost to Jones forever, literally becoming part of the ship itself, losing all humanity. Often Jones spent his time in his enormous cabin, endlessly playing a haunting tune on his massive coral-encrusted pipe organ. Jones would use the tentacles of his beard to play for hours, tortured by a painting of the sea and a small statue of his lost love Calypso set just above the keyboard.

Hunting Jack Sparrow
Davy Jones would sail the seas for many years (the only official record is that he sailed the Dutchman for three different Brethren Courts) and eventually went to call in a debt owed by Jack Sparrow. Jones sent crewman Bootstrap Bill Turner to brand Jack with the Black Spot so the Kraken could find and destroy Jack should he attempt to flee from Jones. Jack Sparrow tracked the down the Dutchman using Tia Dalma's crab claws and tricked William Turner into believing a ship recently destroyed by the Kraken was the ship they were after and all he need do was sneak on board and retrieve the key. Things did not go according to plan however as the real Flying Dutchman burst from the ocean depths and took Turner prisoner.

Later, when Jones tracked Jack to the Isla Cruces in the fight for the Dead Man's Chest, the Dutchman gave chase after the Black Pearl when Sparrow recovered Jones's Heart. Though the Dutchman was fabled to be the fastest ship in the sea, the Pearl technically had an advantage given the winds there, and began to outdistance the Dutchman. Though Jones tried to slow the Pearl with the Chase Guns, the Pearl got out of range, forcing Jones to summon the Kraken to finish the job.

Leading the armada
"The Dutchman sails as its captain commands!" "And its captain is to sail it as commanded!"

- Davy Jones and Cutler Beckett

When Lord Cutler Beckett gained control of Davy Jones's heart, East India Trading Company Blue Coats under the command of Admiral James Norrington were stationed aboard the ship to guard the Dead Man's Chest, in order to ensure Jones's loyalty. The Dutchman sailed the seas, destroying pirate vessels for the Company. It later pursued and captured the Empress, Captain Sao Feng's vessel, killing Feng in the process, with all its crew, including Elizabeth Turner. However, the crew later escaped aided by Norrington who was killed by Bootstrap Bill Turner during the escape. With the ship's commander dead a riot broke out on the ship with Jones' men desperately trying to retake control of the chest. When they arrived in the captain's cabin however, they found Mercer still had the key to the chest. With the Empress fleeing to Shipwreck Island the Flying Dutchman, at the head of Cutler Beckett's armada, followed.

Showdown with the Black Pearl
"We've an armada against us, and with the Dutchman there's no chance"

- Joshamee Gibbs





During the final conflict between the Pirate Lords and the East India Trading Company, the Flying Dutchman was sent out alone to do battle with the Black Pearl in combat around Calypso's Maelstrom. The Dutchman initially had the advantage of chase guns, which wreaked havoc on the Pearl as it grew closer. However, given the nature of the Maelstrom, Barbossa steered the Pearl further into the waters, and the two ships began to exchange broadsides. Later, as the ships grew even closer together, the crews began to board, leading to much mayhem and fighting. An interesting point is that the cannons of the Dutchman and Pearl were firing for most of the time, it was hardly enough to sink either ship. As the fighting intensified, the captains of the respective ships engaged in single combat aboard the Flying Dutchman while the ship's crew fought around. Three of the Pearl's leaders, Jack Sparrow, Elizabeth Swann and William Turner all did battle with Davy Jones, but none of them could overcome the king of the sea. Towards the end of this conflict, the Dutchman's mast collided with the Pearl, jarring the ships, temporarily unnerving boarders. Barbossa who was controlling the Pearl, was busy fighting and so could not uncouple them. Meanwhile on deck, Jones stabbed William Turner, killing him. However, moments later, Jack Sparrow helped Will stab the heart of Jones by moving Turner's hand as it clutched Jack Sparrow's sword. In this way, Jones was killed and Turner would be brought to life as the new captain of the Flying Dutchman. Forgetting all about the battle, the crew of the Flying Dutchman gathered around Will to carve out his heart, while the Dutchman, without someone at the wheel sunk into the depths when Barbossa, who had defeated everyone at the helm, dislodged the locked masts.

A new captain
"This ship has a purpose again."

- William "Bootstrap Bill" Turner

As the Black Pearl now turned to face the HMS Endeavour, prepared to fight to the death for the cause of piracy, the Dutchman suddenly rose back out of the depths. There was tension at first, as it was unclear whether the Dutchman had really changed hands. Fortunately though, Will was now the new captain, and its crew were reverted back to their true forms: the ship lost the sea life and gruesome humanoid effigies that adorned its hull, revealing gold and bronze beneath. Turner's first act as captain was to join the Black Pearl in carrying out a devastating duel broadside against the HMS Endeavour, flagship of the East India Trading Company. The Endeavour was destroyed, perhaps partly due to Beckett's shock at seeing the Dutchman change sides, and Cutler Beckett's armada was routed.

Turner would now served as the captain of the Flying Dutchman for the next ten years, bound to ferry the souls of drowned seamen into the afterlife, as Jones had before him. The Dutchman disappeared into the green flash after Will's one day ashore, in order to complete it's duty. After ten years of service, Turner's true love, his wife Elizabeth Swann, had remained faithful to him and so the curse of Calypso's disloyalty was broken, and Turner was free to return to his family.

Design and appearance
The vessel weighed 420 tons and was 170 feet long, stern to bow. It was armed with forty cannons, not including two triple-barreled chase guns. The Dutchman was considered to be the fastest ship both on and beneath the sea. However, it was unable to maintain pursuit of the Black Pearl, which had an edge with a following wind, while the Dutchman was said to be faster with a headwind.



In such cases, the crew called upon the Dutchman's most potent and powerful weapon to destroy their enemies. The ship was fitted with a giant Kraken Hammer, used to summon the Kraken from the ocean depths. The Dutchman was the only vessel immune to the Kraken's destructive rage.

Stern
The ship's stern, a sight witnessed by few human sailors, was covered with lamps and windows arranged in the pattern of a fanged mouth. The deck above was intertwined with the skeletons of ferocious sea beasts. A live sea serpent was also attached to the side of the boat, which Jones would send out to collect souls.

Hull
The vessels hull appears to be constructed entirely from driftwood, with every surface encrusted with barnacles and other aquatic flora and fauna from the sea bed.

Cannons
The Dutchman's cannons emerged from ports on either side of the ship. The ports were carved into the hull and took the forms of sea demons with wide gaping mouths.

The prow of the ship resembled a fanged mouth, and featured a carved figurehead resembling the grim reaper and his scythe.

In addition, the Dutchman's sails were white, but raggady, with multiple holes, perhaps from the many trips into the ocean's depths.

Behind the scenes

 * The look of the ship was inspired by the 17th century Dutch "fluyts" vessels and the Vasa, a Swedish warship which sank in 1628.
 * The Flying Dutchman is currently on display at Castaway Cay.
 * The Dutchman is based off of the famous maritime ghostship of the same name which, according to legend, is doomed to sail the seas for all eternity because it's captain foolishly cursed God after sailing into an horrible storm off of the Cape of Good Hope, vowing to round that cape even if it took him till Judgement Day.

Appearances

 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow: The Coming Storm
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow: City of Gold
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End