Flying Dutchman (Pirates of the Caribbean)
The Flying Dutchman is a fictional ghost ship, commanded by Davy Jones, which appears in the 2006 film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, and in the 2007 film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Its name and origin is taken from the old sea legend of the Flying Dutchman. However there are significant differences between the legendary Flying Dutchman and the one seen in the film.
The look of the ship was inspired by the seventeenth century Dutch "fluyt" vessels and the Vasa, a Swedish warship which sank in 1628. However, the ship itself resembles a sailfish. The Flying Dutchman has 5 staysails making it easer to sail against the wind then running before the wind. It is covered in seaweed, shells, and many plants, probably from the ship's ability to dive into the sea. The ship is heavily armed with forty-eight cannons and two triple rotating cannons (an unusually heavy armament for a galleon), as well as the ability to summon and control the legendary leviathan, the Kraken. The Kraken is summoned by the Flying Dutchman's large rotating wheel and when fully rotated, it releases a frequency throughout the ocean depths, awakening the Kraken. It is said whoever controls the Flying Dutchman will control the seas.
History
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Captain Jack Sparrow attempts to avoid paying his debt to Davy Jones by offering him Will Turner instead. Jack tells Will that a wrecked ship on a reef is the ghost ship, the Flying Dutchman, and that is where he'll find the key to Davy Jones's Dead Man's Chest. As Will investigates the wreck, the real Flying Dutchman surfaces from beneath the waves. Will is then captured by Jones's crew. Davy Jones offers the dying survivors an opportunity to swear an oath to serve aboard his ship for a century or be condemned to the depths. Fearing death, most accept, but one sailor refuses and is killed. Because Will is neither dead nor dying, Jones takes him captive. Jones tells Jack he will not accept Will alone in exchange for Jack's soul. To settle their debt, he demands one hundred souls within three days. Otherwise, Jack must surrender or face the Kraken. Jack attempts to take Will back, but Jones keeps him as a "good faith" payment and demands another ninety-nine souls.
Will is reunited with his father, "Bootstrap Bill" Turner (originally named William Turner) on the Flying Dutchman. The harsh life aboard the ship is revealed as the crew is often whipped by the boatswain Jimmylegs. Will himself faces a flogging, but is spared from a more severe beating from the boatswain by his father, who is then forced to whip his own son. Bootstrap later tells him that the boatswain "prides himself on cleaving flesh from bone with every swing," and that his actions (flogging his own son) were done out of compassion.
Will steals the key (to Davy Jones's chest) while Jones is asleep and escapes the Flying Dutchman in a longboat. Will is then rescued by the Edinburgh Trader, but as Jones discovers his key disappeared, he summons the Kraken to destroy it and try to retrieve the key. Will survives and stows away in the bow of the Flying Dutchman. Jones sets course for Isla Cruces where the Dead Man's Chest is buried. The Flying Dutchman landing party recovers the chest (although it is empty) but failed to capture Jack. Jones pursues the Black Pearl, but it outruns the Flying Dutchman. Vengeful, Jones again summons the Kraken which nearly destroys the vessel. All hands but Jack abandon ship as Elizabeth Swann chains Jack to the ship before setting off. Jack escapes and confronts the Kraken, which pulls the Black Pearl and Jack under the sea. Jones declares Jack's debt settled, but when he retrieves and looks inside the Dead Man's Chest, his heart was missing. Jones curses at Jack, but it is Lord Cutler Beckett who now possesses it. With It, Lord Beckett "controls" Davy Jones and the seas.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Davy Jones and the Flying Dutchman return in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End under the command of Lord Beckett, accompanying him to the South China Sea.
It is learned in the final chapter that the purpose of the Flying Dutchman is to ferry the souls of those who die at sea into the nether-world. The captain was picked by Calypso, goddess of the sea. He would be allowed to spend one day ashore with she who loves him dearly before taking his responsibilities to ferry souls for a decade. His heart would be put in the Dead Man's Chest and given to his loved one while he would hold onto the key.
Jones's sweetheart was, coincidentally, Calypso, and on the day he could go ashore, she was nowhere to be found. He felt betrayed, so he summoned nine pirate lords to the first Brethren Court and taught them how to bind Calypso in human form. Afterward, Jones abandoned his duties to ferrying souls, and consequently became the monstrous looking being he is.
It is also learned that he who stabs the heart of the ship's current captain must cut out his own heart and place it into the chest and become The New captain. This is revealed by Governor Weatherby Swann's soul; he had been executed by Lord Beckett for having learned this and for being of no further use. He gives this information to Captains Barbossa and Sparrow, Elizabeth and Will, and the crew of the Black Pearl just before they return to the world of the living after rescuing Jack. Will knows that the only way to save his father is by stabbing the heart of Davy Jones, but after learning of the fate which awaits the one who kills Jones, he becomes reluctant to carry out the task himself. Captain Sparrow also knows this, and is motivated into [...] Jones so that he may become the next Captain, while also becoming immortal. Bootstrap Bill Turner has a conversation with Elizabeth while she is captive on the Flying Dutchman in which he says that his son, Will, must choose her over him and that she must tell Will not to try and save him.
At the climax of the film, the Flying Dutchman leads the East India Trading Company (EITC) armada against the forces of the Brethren Court. The Flying Dutchman proceeds to battle the Black Pearl in a MaelstroM created by Calypso. The ships exchange fire, and their crews swing across to engage in hand combat. Jack and Davy Jones fight over the Dead Man's Chest in the yardarm of the Flying Dutchman. Jack finally obtains Jones's heart and threatens to stab it, but Jones fatally wounds Will first. Jack Sparrow knows that the only way to save Will would be to have him stab the heart, which would result in Will becoming the new captain; he does so while Jones is occupied with "Bootstrap" attempting to avenge his son. The crew of the Flying Dutchman cuts out Will's heart and places it in the Dead Man's Chest.
Jack escapes with Elizabeth while the Flying Dutchman is consumed by the maelstrom, but the ship resurfaces shortly afterwards with Will at the helm. The change of captains results in the entire crew reverting to their human forms, and the ship transforms back to its original form as an ornate Dutch fluyt. These changes would presumably last as long as the captain keeps to his mission of ferrying the dead, signifying the truth of what Tia Dalma had said AbOUT Davy Jones having become a monster after abandoning his task of ferrying souls to the after-life. The Flying Dutchman assists the Black Pearl in destroying the flagship of the armada, and the armada retreats.
Will must perform his duty for ten years at sea, not allowed to set foot on land until the ten years are up; but first, he is allowed one day on land to be with Elizabeth, where they consummate their marriage. Will leaves the chest (with his heart inside) with Elizabeth for safekeeping, saying it had always belonged to her.
During the film, Gibbs mentions that a green flash may very rarely be seen in the sky at dusk or dawn; according to pirate superstition, this signifies that a soul has returned from death to life. It is suggested by the scriptwriters that the green light that flashes in the horizon when the Flying Dutchman reappears is a sure sign of "Will's soul returning to Earth for good", but there was also an identical green flash of light when Will disappeared with the Flying Dutchman to begin his task of ferrying souls to the next world. It could simply be that the Flying Dutchman triggers the effect whenever it shifts between the mortal world and the afterlife once every ten years.
The screenwriters have said that because Elizabeth stayed true to Will for the interim 10 years and he continued to ferry souls to the next world, the curse is lifted and he is free of the Flying Dutchman. This is contradicted by the "Pirates Secrets Revealed" leaflet insert in the DVD release, which states that Will is bound to the Flying Dutchman forever and may only step onto land once every 10 years.
Life Aboard
The ship is more organic plant matter than timber and sail and is heavily encrusted with marine life that reflects its strong relationship to the sea. Similarly, because Jones abandoned his soul-ferrying duty, he and the crew bear a curse that gradually mutates them into anthropomorphic amalgamations of sea creatures. In the Dead Man's Chest DVD commentary, writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio mention that the crew actually become less and less human until they are literally absorbed into the Flying Dutchman. (Davy Jones knows this, but fails to mentions it to new recruits). One crew member, Wyvern, is so transformed that he is now integrated into the ship's hull. The crew has little or no human flesh remaining on them, although newer members, like Bootstrap Bill, are only partially encrusted with sea life.
With the help of Jack Sparrow, Jack took Will Turner's Hand, placed it around the broken sword and made will's hand stab the heart with the broken sword. As a result, a contract was made. A crewman's soul is forever bound to the Flying Dutchman. When Jones wailed in anguish after discovering his heart was gone, the crew joined in. In At World's End, the crew show a mindless devotion to their captain, chanting, "Part of the ship. Part of the crew". Will is just about dead when this occurs. Bootstrap Bill takes a small knife in which Will thrust into the Dutchman's ship. Bill uses that knife to cut out Will's heart. Will is supposedly unconscious at this time. In one scene, Bootstrap Bill is unable to stop himself from [...] James Norrington and raising the alarm, but Will's death rouses his will power sufficiently for him to attack Jones after Jones discovered that Jack held Davy Jones heart in his hands. Davy Jones is furious and starts looking around for a way to remain captain of his ship. He sees two young lovers(Elizabeth and Will). Jones takes out a sword and stabs Will near his heart and Elizabeth is now in distraught. Davy Jones does not take the sword out of Will and that along with his friends and family deciding that it is best that he becomes captain ends up with his "life" being spared. Will is nor living or dead now and will always remain that way.
The Flying Dutchman can submerge underwater, spending much of its time submerged and is rarely seen by other ships except when they are attacked. Above water, the ship usually appears below a recurring thunderstorm, unless it nears dry land. In one scene, Jones shouts to his crew, "Down!", indicating he wants the crew to take the ship under. All the crew then follow in shouting, "Down!" after which the ship begins submerging, while the crew remain at their work stations rather than moving to other stations, hinting that the ship itself responds to the command instead of the crew taking actions that cause it to descend. As the ship descends Into the Depths, two of Jones' tentacles can be seen holding his hat on, while his crew continues to work, unhampered by the rushing water and lack of air.
It is believed that Davy Jones has sailed on the Flying Dutchman for centuries. The crew rarely steps on land, and Davy Jones can do so only once every decade. Nearly all the crew members' time in servitude is spent toiling on board the ship. This appears to cease when they become part of the vessel, although even then they can still be useful, like poor Wyvern, who is now a wall sconce holding a lantern. For amusement, the crew play a game called Liar's Dice, in which they gamble years of service. Davy Jones regularly plays a massive pipe organ. He plays one piece more often than others, the same tune that also plays on his music locket, as well as one belonging to Tia Dalma.
When Will stabs Jones' heart in At World's End, he becomes the ship's captain and releases the surviving crew members from the curse that was wrought by Jones' neglecting his duty. They regain their human forms, and set to work ferrying the souls of those who die at sea.
Armament
Like other ships, the Flying Dutchman is armed with port and starboard guns. It carries 46 sideboard 6 pound guns, 23 on each side; 18 guns are located on the main deck, 20 on the gun deck, and 8 on the upper deck: 4 on the quarter-deck and 4 in the forecastle. 1, 2, 3 The gunports on the gun deck are in the shape of demon faces, each one with a unique facial expression, with the ports appearing at the mouths. Its full broadside contains 23 cannonballs, called shot, and weighs one hundred and 62.652 lbs. (38 kg). On the bow however, she mounts a pair of bow chasers, each in the form of a triple-barreled gun. Each separate barrel fires individually, but the trio rotates to present a fresh barrel to fire again in the style of a Gatling gun. The empty barrel can then be reloaded for its next turn. This enables the Flying Dutchman to continually fire at ships it is pursuing. When not in use, the bow chasers are concealed behind two doors carved in the shape of an angry demon's maw. A picture of the Dutchman's stern shown in the Essential Guide to Pirates of the Caribbean depicts two gun-ports, but it is unknown what kind of guns comprise this pair of stern chasers.
The Flying Dutchman also has the Kraken Hammer, a massive hammer in the form of a capstan to summon the mighty Kraken - a powerful leviathan that crushes and drags ships to their doom. The Kraken can also be summoned by the Black Spot. Any member of Davy Jones' crew can deliver the mark to a victim, but only Jones can remove it. Also, Jones can apparently reactivate a Black Spot that has been removed. When a man bears the mark, the Kraken seeks to destroy him and his possessions. The Kraken attacked a Turkish fishing vessel only because the crew found Jack's hat floating in the water. Attack survivors are often offered a choice of prolonged servitude to Davy Jones or death.
Trivia
In the special features for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Johnny Depp mistakedly refers to the Flying Dutchman as the "Davy Jones Crocodile Machine," because he couldn't remember the name of the ship for his lines.
See also
- The crew of the Flying Dutchman
- List of fictional ships
External links
References
hu:Bolygó Hollandi nl:The Flying Dutchman (Pirates of the Caribbean)