Existing comment:
The Ship:
The ship you are now on, which portrayed the "HMS Surprise in the film "Master and Commander," began life in the 1970s as a replica of the 24-gun frigate Rose of 1757. Also known as a sixth-rate ship of war, a frigate is the smallest class of ship commanded by a full captain (smaller versions were known as sloop-of-war). Frigates were characterized by possessing a single deck of guns, as opposed to the multiple gun decks of larger ships-of-the-line (which usually operated in fleets). Faster and more economical than the latter, frigates were used to patrol, scout, repeat signals during battles between heavy ships, carry dispatches, convoy merchantmen, raid enemy merchantmen and convoys, and conduct independent operations in distant waters. They did not engage ships-of-the-line in battle. Frigates varied in size and power, general expressed by the number of guns they carried and the weight of shot fired.
The original Rose came to America in 1768. During 1774, as sentiments in the colonies began to turn against England, HMS Rose contributed to the ill will by aggressive enforcement of customs regulations and seizures of contraband ships and cargoes owned by Rhode Island merchants, causing the collapse of Newport's economy. After the outbreak of hostilities, Rose bombarded forts surrounding New York, helping to drive Washington's troops from the city. Rose was scuttled in the Savannah River in 1779 to block its use by the French, and her wreck destroyed to clear the channel after the war.
Built in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, the replica Rose operated as a sail training vessel from 1985 to 2001. Thousands of people from all over the world experienced adventure at sea aboard the Rose as she ranged from her homeport in New England as far north as Labrador and as far south as Grenada, into the Great Lakes as far west as Duluth and east to the Atlantic coast of Europe.
In 2003, the ship was transformed into the HMS Surprise for the 20th Century Fox film "Master and Commander Far Side of the World" starring Russell Crowe and directed by Peter Weir. Surprise is a 28-gun, 12-pound frigate. The fictitious Surprise of the Patrick O'Brian books was a French-built ship captured by the British years earlier. She would have been slightly larger, more powerful, and more modern than the film version. Though two frigates named Surprise actually served in the Royal navy during this period, neither closely corresponds to the fictional ship.
Today, the ship continues her life as Surprise for the Maritime Museum of San Diego; serving as an attraction vessel, a platform for dramatic exhibits, and always a sailing ship with plans to once again run before the wind. |