Prototype Ships: HMS Surprise

[tedbeard]

One of my favorite ships from the world of fiction would have to be HMS/HMHV Surprise (1) captained primarily by Jack Aubrey in the Aubreid (2) by Patrick O'Brian. For the 2003 film (3) an existing tall ship (4) was bought and modified to become Surprise and was later donated to the San Diego Maritime Museum.





These pictures were taken in the Summer of 2008 while on a family vacation in California. Having visited several tall ships in the last few years I am still surprised at the small size of all of them. Surprise is no exception. Standing on the deck you feel as if a dozen people would be unable to get any work done. Below decks they have reproduced a gun position (below) along with some other displays. Oddly enough the deck has been raised under the gun to create the low headroom that is usually associated with fighting ships.



There are also plans available online of what Surprise might have looked like based on real ships plans of the period (5).

Notes:

1. Surprise was in and out of naval service (as was Jack Aubrey) and so bore different titles: HMS= His Majesty's Ship; HMHV=His Majesty's Hired Vessel.
2. The series of books featuring Jack Aubrey, RN and Dr. Steven Maturin are sometimes collectively referred to as the Aubreiad.
3. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World from IMDB.
4. The Tall Ship Rose was built in 1985 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia and until 2001 was used for sail training on the Atlantic coast of North America.
5. Ships of Jack Aubrey by Bruce Trinque.

[legokilt]

I have some plans and drawing of similar size craft from the British Navy and some from their Provincial Marine in the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes boats are shallower draft, but still really impressive. If I can get my scanner to work, I'll sent you some images. I have been slowly working on building a minifig scale version of the Surprise using existing Lego hulls. She is longer than she should be, but it is coming along. Once I get some images I'll post them too.

[Phred]

This ship in the Master & Commander movie, gave me a huge nudge towards building piratey MOCs instead of primarily Star Wars MOCs.
POTC was good, but i liked the more accurate realism of M&C.

Was the original Rose design based off of the HMS Surprise Tedbeard?
I think it was, but i don't remember.

[tedbeard]

From the Tall Ship Rose website:

The original "H.M.S." Rose was built in Hull, England in 1757. At that period in naval history ships were divided by "rates," first rate being the largest with 100-110 guns carried on three individual gundecks. The original Rose was a sixth rate ship, the smallest class of ship that would be commanded by someone holding the rank of Captain.

and

The replica "H.M.S." Rose was built in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia in 1970 by Newport Historian John Fitzhugh Millar, using original construction drawings from 1757 which were obtained from the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England.

Surprise (at least the real one) was originally a French vessel called l'Unite which was captured in 1796 and originally classified as a sixth rate like Rose. The two ships would be very similar in size, armament and crew making the replica Rose a great choice for the role.

[TyZed]

I love these books and I love this movie! I'd also love to visit this ship! *sniff* I envy you.

Thanks for the pictures!

[RocketSeason]

The movie is one of my favorites. It's great to see that vessel again.

[Aharown]

This is a beautiful ship. Thanks for sharing this, Tedbeard. A ship of this size is a good size to try to build, as legokilt is doing.

[jakelongdragon]

Wow it's beautiful! I saw the master and commander movie. It's really awesome!