HMS Surprise (replica Ship)

HMS ''Surprise'' is a modern tall ship built at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada. The vessel was built in 1970 as HMS ''Rose'' to a Phil Bolger design based on the original 18th-century British Admiralty drawings of , a 20-gun sixth-rate post ship from 1757.

As HMS ''Rose''

The ship was meant to be a close replica of the original ''Rose'', but still fill a commercial function. John Fitzhugh Millar commissioned the ship's construction in anticipation of the US Bicentennial in 1976. In conjunction with this project, he appeared on the television show '' To Tell the Truth'' in 1974 and stumped the panel. Millar gave Bolger copies of the original British Admiralty drawings. Bolger modified the hull shape below the water line, sharpening up her entry so she sailed to windward better. Unlike some square-riggers, she could sail two points (22-1/2 degrees) on the wind provided that seas remained under four feet or so. Bolger also changed the arrangement of her decks, at the bank's insistence, so that she could be used as a tavern and restaurant, though she was never used as such.

''Rose'' was built at the Smith and Rhuland shipyard in Lunenburg, a yard which had established a reputation for large and successful replicas such as HMS in 1960 and in 1963.

The ship was inspected and certified by the United States Coast Guard. She spent the first ten years of her life in Newport, Rhode Island sailing in Newport Harbor and as a dockside attraction.

In the summer of 1972, ''Rose'' was hired for the film '' The Man Without a Country'', a made-for-television production. Norman Rosemont Productions couldn't find the money to take the ship out sailing, so all the filming was shot with sails set, as the ship was securely moored to the pier, next to the causeway to Goat Island.

In 1984, already in serious disrepair, she was purchased by Kaye Williams and brought to Bridgeport, Connecticut, and operated as a sail training vessel in the 1980s and 1990s, run by the HMS Rose Foundation based in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States. In her lifetime as ''Rose'', her figurehead had to be replaced twice, each time slightly upgraded. One was damaged in a storm off Bermuda on her way to Norfolk, Virginia, in June 1998. The figurehead was named in fun as "Chester" by the crew.

Transformation into HMS ''Surprise''

The ship was sold to the 20th Century Fox film studio in March 2001, and underwent extensive modifications to be used in the making of the film '' Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'', in which she portrayed the Royal Navy frigate HMS with a story based on several of the books by Patrick O'Brian. The modifications included a reshaped stern, all deck structures removed, the single ship's wheel replaced by a double wheel, period fighting tops fitted, new sails, and the figurehead replaced.

Renaming as HMS ''Surprise''

After the film was complete, the ship was leased and then purchased by the Maritime Museum of San Diego which began restoring her to sailing condition in September 2007. The ship was officially re-registered as "HMS ''Surprise''" in honor of her role in the film. She sails several times a year, often with the museum's other tall ships, the schooner and the 1863 barque . In 2010, she portrayed HMS ''Providence'' in the Disney adventure film '' Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides''. In 2020 the deck was replanked by the museum. The ship was briefly taken off display for work done by the Pacific Maritime Group and returned to the museum in June 2022. By 2024 the ship was in a worn condition with deteriorating paint and timbers.

Related facts

Although she is known by the prefix HMS, meaning His (or Her) Majesty's Ship, she has never been commissioned in the Royal Navy.

In 1991, the Connecticut General Assembly passed "An Act Concerning the HMS ''Rose''" in which the ship was commissioned as a vessel of the Connecticut Naval Militia. The act stated that the H.M.S. ''Rose'' Foundation was responsible for maintaining the ship, but when the ship was sold to 20th Century Fox, the statute was not repealed and is still in effect.CGS 27-5 - Public Act 91-31
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References

External links

Maritime Museum of San Diego page on the ''Surprise''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Surprise, Hms, Replica
1970 ships
Ships built in Nova Scotia
Maritime Museum of San Diego
Museum ships in San Diego
Individual sailing vessels
Sail training ships
Tall ships of the United States
Replica ships