Flying Dutchman

The Flying Dutchman is a legendary ghost ship that appears in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean series. Based on the legend of the same name, the Dutchman is first introduced in Dead Man's Chest, and has appeared in the sequel At World's End. Among other appearances, the Dutchman appears in The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios, as well as several books and video games.
While the origin of the Flying Dutchman is unknown, the ship was most notably captained by Davy Jones, who was saddled with the responsibility of ferrying the souls of deceased sailors to the Land of the Dead, until he was forsaken by the sea goddess Calypso. The condemned captain of the Dutchman preyed on wayward sailors lost at sea. Those who wish to avoid death and final judgment serve Jones aboard his haunted vessel, eventually becoming a part of the ship itself, forever enslaved to its terrifying captain. Upon Jones' death, the Flying Dutchman received a new captain, Will Turner, who set about fulfilling the duty for which the ship was originally designed for.
==Background==
Command of the Flying Dutchman was originally given to Davy Jones by the sea goddess Calypso. Because the two were in love, Davy 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. Both heartbroken and enraged, Davy Jones allied himself with the First Brethren Court and bound Calypso into human form. After this betrayal, he carved out his heart, thereby leaving a geis cast upon it and the Dutchman. Whoever stabs Jones' heart, theirs must take its place and captain the Flying Dutchman, as the ship must have a captain.
The heartbroken and bitter Davy Jones abandoned his duty and returned to the seven seas. As a result, the Flying Dutchman itself became cursed, just as Jones was. While its crew slowly transformed into amalgamations of sea creatures, the Dutchman itself became crusted with barnacles, sea life, and the bodies of those crew members who stayed in her service too long. To keep his fate intact, Davy Jones locked his heart in a chest on Isla Cruces, hiding it from the world.
===Physical description===
The look of the Flying Dutchman was inspired by the 17th century Dutch fluyt vessels and the Vasa, a real-life Swedish warship which sank in 1628. The Flying Dutchman has sails that make it easier to sail against the wind. However, it was unable to maintain pursuit of the Black Pearl, which had an edge with a following wind, making it the only ship to outrun the Dutchman. The ship is heavily encrusted with marine life that reflects its strong ties to the sea, apparently a result of a curse that turned the crew into marine humanlike monsters as when broken with Davy Jones' death, the ship itself loses all of the marine life attached to it and reverts to its original form like its crew does.
In ship-to-ship combat, the Flying Dutchman is armed with port and starboard guns. The gunports on the gun deck are in the shape of faces, each one with a unique facial expression, with the ports appearing at the mouths. On the bow, she mounts a pair of chasers, each in the form of a triple-barreled culverin, giving her an incredible range during a chase. This enables the Flying Dutchman to continually fire at ships it is pursuing. 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, Jones' crew called upon the Dutchman's most potent and powerful weapon. In addition to her overwhelming firepower, the Flying Dutchman also has a massive Capstan Hammer used to summon the Kraken, a beast that does Davy Jones' bidding. The Kraken can also be summoned by the Black Spot, which any member of Jones' crew can deliver the mark to a victim.
The prow of the Flying Dutchman resembled a fanged mouth, and featured a carved figurehead resembling the grim reaper. In addition, the vessel's hull appears to be constructed entirely from driftwood, with every surface encrusted with barnacles and other aquatic flora and fauna from the sea bed. Shortly after Jones' death, the driftwood fell away revealing that underneath it was actually made of gold and bronze and presumably got its barnacled appearance due to the curse that had turned Jones' crew into sea creatures. The bow loses the grim reaper figurehead, but keeps the fanged mouth, albeit with less evident fangs. The curse was now broken when Will Turner became the new captain.
==Appearances==
====Dead Man's Chest====
While tracking down the Flying Dutchman, Jack Sparrow tricked Will Turner into believing a scuttled ship (recently destroyed by the Kraken) was the Dutchman. Emitting terror and potency to those unfortunate enough to cross its path, the Flying Dutchman first appears when it rises from the ocean depths to claim its victims' souls following a Kraken attack. Jones offered the survivors a choice: either embrace death or postpone the judgment and serve for one hundred years aboard the Flying Dutchman. Upon speaking with Will Turner from the ship wreckage, Davy Jones faced Jack Sparrow aboard the Black Pearl, demanding to settle his overdue debt of being captain for 13 years. In the end, the two agree that Jones can have 100 souls in exchange for Jack Sparrow's; keeping Will Turner as "a good faith payment", Jack only needed to find 99 more. Having sealed the deal, Davy Jones and his crew returned to the Dutchman.
As the Flying Dutchman sailed through a storm, Davy 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 just above the keyboard. Simultaneously, Will Turner is reunited with his father, "Bootstrap Bill" Turner, who is an indentured sailor aboard the Dutchman. Shipboard life is harsh, and the crew is often whipped by the cruel bo'sun, Jimmy Legs. Will is also flogged, although it is his father who delivers the lash to spare his son from the bo'sun's sadistic hand. Boostrap and Will learn about the Dead Man's Chest from Wyvern, who had already became a part of the ship. After a game of Liar's Dice, Bootstrap Bill helps Will steal the key to the chest and escape the Dutchman. However, upon discovering Bootstrap's treachery, Jones summons the Kraken to destroy the Edinburgh Trader, a merchant ship Will climbed aboard on. As the ship sunk, Will sneaks back aboard the Dutchman as a stowaway, making his way to Isla Cruces where Jones' heart is buried in the Dead Man's Chest.
After arriving to Isla Cruces, Davy Jones discovers Jack Sparrow's crew have already stepped ashore. Jones ordered the Dutchman to sail down underwater, where several of his crewmen went to retrieve the Dead Man's Chest at his stead. The crewmen later returned aboard, having successfully retrieved the chest. When Jack's crew returned aboard the Black Pearl, the Dutchman rose out of the sea right next to them and started attacking. The attack led to a chase, in which the Pearl outruns the Dutchman. With the Pearl out of range, Davy Jones once again unleashes the Kraken, which drags the Pearl and Jack Sparrow to the depths. After witnessing the Kraken's attack, worry touches Davy Jones' eyes. With mounting concern, Jones went to look at the Dead Man's Chest, only to an empty chest -- his heart was gone. Enraged, Jones thought it was Jack Sparrow's doing and screamed in anguish instilling fear and pain in his crew. But it was James Norrington who stole Davy Jones' heart. Norrington gave the heart to Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company, now given the leverage to force Jones and his crew to do his bidding.
====At World's End====
By this time, Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company has the heart of Davy Jones, thereby having gained control of the Flying Dutchman and its malevolent captain, Davy Jones. The Dutchman now roams the seven seas, unstoppable, destroying pirate ships without mercy, under the command of Admiral Norrington. Beckett's aide, Mercer, said that nothing can hold against the EITC armada, not with the Flying Dutchman at the lead. However, a quest was undertaken to gather the the Brethren Court and, unbeknownst to Jones, saving Jack Sparrow from Davy Jones' Locker. An evil on the seas that even the most staunch and bloodthirsty pirates have come to fear, the Flying Dutchman first appears rising from the depths, mercilessly destroying pirate ships with its cannons. However, this irritates Lord Beckett who wants prisoners to interrogate about the Brethren. To ensure Jones does as he is ordered to, Beckett places Admiral James Norrington and a squad of EITC marines aboard the Dutchman, where they were to guard the Dead Man's Chest, as to remind Jones he is under their control. The Dutchman accompanies Lord Beckett's flagship, the HMS Endeavour on its mission to eradicate piracy.
Later, the Dutchman was signaled to attack the Empress, the ship of the Pirate Lord Sao Feng; Feng is killed but not before giving Elizabeth Swann the title of captain and Pirate Lord. After the attack, Davy Jones's crew put Elizabeth and the Empress crew into the brig while the Empress was towed by the Dutchman. Elizabeth's crew managed to escape the Dutchman with Admiral Norrington's help, although he is killed by a deranged Bootstrap Bill Turner. Upon seeing the dead admiral, Jones's crew attempt a mutiny against the East India Trading Company marines stationed on board the Dutchman. However, upon reaching the captain's cabin, some of Beckett's soldiers organized a defense, which includes Mullroy and Murtogg aiming a cannon at the Dead Man's Chest. Holding the key to the chest, Mercer proclaims that the Dutchman is under his command.
By the time the Flying Dutchman caught up with the Endeavour, Davy Jones discovered that Will Turner allied himself with Beckett. It was here that Jones learns of the quest to rescue Jack Sparrow and the Black Pearl from the Locker as well as the intention of freeing Calypso. With Turner's help, the Dutchman and Beckett's armada were able to locate Shipwreck Cove, the meeting place of the Brethren Court; and from there, where Davy Jones met with Calypso aboard the Black Pearl. The next day, there was a parley on a sandbar in between the Brethren and Beckett's armada, with the Dutchman at the lead, which outnumbered the pirates greatly. In the end, because of Jack Sparrow's debt, Will left with the pirates while Jack was handed over to Jones. While Jack was sent to the brig, there was no surrender, however, and battle was inevitable. Though Davy Jones knew Calypso would take care of the Brethren when they release her; but the tides had turned when Will Turner reveals to Calypso, at the moment she was freed, that Davy Jones was the one who taught the Brethren Court how to imprison her.
As the winds blew, Cutler Beckett ordered to signal Davy Jones to "give no quarter." At that moment, a storm formed spontaneously, and Davy Jones took it as a sign that Calypso had been released, but realized it was for the worse. The Flying Dutchman leads Beckett's armada in battle against the Brethren Court, led by the Black Pearl. The Dutchman and the Pearl engage in battle while entering a monstrous maelstrom created by Calypso. Despite Mercer's protests, Davy Jones took the helm and steered the Dutchman straight into the swirling vortex. The Dutchman initially had the advantage of chase guns, but soon came to a point of exchanging broadsides as the two ships sail further into the waters. During the first part of the battle, Jack Sparrow was able to escape the Dutchman's brig and retrieve the Dead Man's Chest from Mullroy and Murtogg. However, Jack was accosted by Davy Jones, who took the key from Mercer after killing him. Both captains engaged in single combat aboard the Dutchman while the crews began to board the other ship. The fight for the chest led to the deck, where Will Turner, who boarded the Dutchman, fought his now mentally-ill father Bootstrap Bill Turner. Making his way through the battle on the Dutchman to get to the Chest, Jones continued his duel with Sparrow. By the end of the battle, Sparrow acquires both the Chest and the key while Jones battles Will and Elizabeth. By the end of the battle, Davy Jones is killed when, aided by Sparrow, the mortally-wounded Will Turner stabs Jones' heart, and Jones falls off the Dutchman into the maelstrom. Upon Davy Jones' death, the Flying Dutchman crew gathered around the now-dead Will Turner, where Bootstrap Bill says "The Dutchman must have a captain" before carving out his heart. Simultaneously, Jack and Elizabeth escape the Dutchman, now being sucked into the maelstrom.
As the Black Pearl turned to face the Endeavour, the Flying Dutchman suddenly rose back out of the depths. There was tension at first, as it was unclear whether the Dutchman had really changed hands. However, the Dutchman re-emerged without any sea life, and the crew had reverted to their human forms. At the helm, Will Turner assumed command as the new captain of the Dutchman. Joining forces, the Dutchman and the Pearl face off against the Endeavour. Stunned by this unexpected alliance, Lord Beckett is unable to respond, and his crew abandons ship just as the Endeavour is being destroyed and Beckett is killed.
In the aftermath of the battle, Will freed Bootstrap Bill from his servitude aboard the Dutchman, but Bootstrap decides to remain with his son and took the helm. Bootstrap then told Will that the Dutchman has a purpose again; because Will Turner assumed his place as captain, he must ferry the souls of drowned seamen into the afterlife, as Jones had before him. Until then, Will had only one day ashore, before spending 10 years at sea. But as Elizabeth will not survive the journeys where the ship must travel, she is not able to join the crew. And so Will and Elizabeth spend their one day together before Will leaves aboard the Dutchman. Before setting out to fulfill his destiny as the captain of the Dutchman, Will left the Dead Man's Chest, containing his disembodied heart, in Elizabeth's care.
In a post-credits scene set ten years later, Elizabeth had already been raising a son, named Henry. Henry accompanied his mother to wait for his father's return ten years after his departure. As the sun sets, the Flying Dutchman appeared with a green flash, signifying Will's return from the Land of the Dead.
===Dead Men Tell No Tales===
Henry Turner summons the Flying Dutchman by trying to "drown" himself. By this time, the Flying Dutchman has reverted to its corrupted form, indicating Will and his crew are becoming more and more like Davy Jones. However, Henry has found a way to end the curse: the Trident of Poseidon. Despite the fact that Will tells Henry there is no hope of finding the trident, Henry, years later as an adult man, with help from Jack Sparrow, Hector Barbossa and Carina Smyth, manages to find and destroy the trident, breaking the curse and allowing Will to return and be with his family once more. However, it is hinted that breaking the trident may have resurrected Davy Jones, as indicated by Will's nightmare in the post-credits scene and the wet barnacles seen on his bedroom floor.
==Video games==
===Disney Infinity===
The Flying Dutchman appears under Davy Jones' command in the Pirates of the Caribbean scenario. It first appears at the start, attacking Bucaneer Bay in order to obtain a map which would lead to a still misterious "prize". It appears again as the final boss, attacking the player along with ghost ships and summoning the Kraken. It can also submerge in order to avoid the player's broadsides.
The players can obtain a set of customization pieces for their ship in order to make it look like the original Dutchman; completing the storyline gifts them with the Kraken Hammer itself, which summons the beast at player's will.
===Kingdom Hearts III===
The Dutchman makes an appearance alongside Davy Jones in Kingdom Hearts III in the world based off of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, where the events in the world follow those seen in At World's End. After Davy Jones is killed when Jack helps Will to stab Jones' heart, the Dutchman is pulled down into Calypso's maelstrom, only to resurface some time later with Will at the helm as the new captain. Together with the Black Pearl, the Dutchman unleashes a double broadside on Cutler Beckett's flagship, HMS Endeavour, sending both it and Beckett to a watery grave, and forcing the armada of Royal Navy vessels serving under Beckett and the East India Trading Company to retreat in disarray after losing their flagship and leader. Afterwards, Joshamee Gibbs tells Sora that, due to Will being the new captain of the Flying Dutchman, he is bound to spend ten years at sea ferrying the souls of the dead to the afterlife after spending his one day on land saying goodbye to his new wife, Elizabeth Swann. Sora considers it unfair, but Jack assures him that one day is enough time for the heart to say everything it needs before Will and Elizabeth part ways, not to see each other again for ten years.
==Disney Parks==
=== The Haunted Mansion ===
A much older depiction of the Flying Dutchman pre-dating the one from the films was designed by Marc Davis to be featured in the Haunted Mansion. The portrait was made to be one of the Haunted Mansion's many Changing Portraits which changed from being a sea-worthy vessel to a floating wreck in a storm.
In original concept-art, the ghosts of its crew would have also been seen flying from the ship's hull. They would have resembled Spanish soldiers and conquistadors. It is from this older concept art that the ship is explicitly stated to be the Flying Dutchman.
===Castaway Cay===
After filming for Dead Man's Chest and At World's End was completed, the Flying Dutchman was put on display at Castaway Cay. As of November 2010, the Dutchman was dismantled and no longer on display.
=== Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure ===
In this Shanghai Disneyland attraction, the Flying Dutchman is resting at a vast treasure hoard in a graveyard of lost ships belonging by Davy Jones with members of the crew and the Kraken patrolling the waters. Macchus ends up catching the riders and directing them inside the Dutchman where Jones challenges Jack openly in a ship battle for the treasure and raises the Dutchman and all the other ghost ships for the showdown.
===The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow===
The Flying Dutchman appears under Davy Jones' command as it attacks Captain Jack Sparrow, the Talking Skull, and the ride's guests. In the battle, Jack damages the vessel to where it blows up and sinks.
=== Phantom Manor ===
In the 2019 refurbishment of the attraction, the changing painting of a ghost ship featured in other Haunted Mansion incarnations that was often referred to as the Flying Dutchman has been changed to the Pirates franchise's version of the ship. The ship changes to show its hull on fire, something not affiliated with the Dutchman in the main series. It is speculated that this might be the result of confusion with the Black Pearl which was sunken in its backstory.
=== Columbia Harbour House ===
A sign for the Flying Dutchman can be seen mounted on the wall within a landing overlooking the Haunted Mansion in the Columbia Harbour House of Liberty Square. The area in which it is has mounted paraphernalia regarding sunken ships and ghost ships.
==Trivia==
*The Flying Dutchman is based on the famous maritime ghost ship of the same name which, according to legend, is doomed to sail the seas for all eternity because its captain foolishly cursed God after sailing into a horrible storm off of the , vowing to round that cape even if it took him until Judgment Day.
*The original legend of the Flying Dutchman describes it as a vessel that sails on the stormy clouds always against the wind: this is kept in the movies with Gibbs mentioning the Dutchman is unbeatable in such wind conditions.
*The look of the ship was inspired by the 17th century Dutch flutes and the Vasa, a Swedish warship which sank in 1628.
*While filming Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Johnny Depp referred to the Flying Dutchman as the "Davy Jones Crocodile Machine" after forgetting the ship's actual name. This moment was featured in the "Bloopers of the Caribbean" special feature.
* The final fate of the Flying Dutchman under Will Turner after Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was controversial. Screenwriter Terry Rossio stated that Will could be freed of the Dutchman upon the end of his ten year service as captain if Elizabeth remained faithful to him, which she did. However, a leaflet inside the At World's End DVD said that he was bound to the Dutchman for all eternity. The fifth film in the series Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales confirmed that Will was bound to the Dutchman forever. In regards to his thoughts concerning Will's fate, Rossio was not involved in the decision to retcon his explanation.
*The Flying Dutchman was first mentioned in the 2003 video game, Pirates of the Caribbean. One of the first dialogues was "Not even the Flying Dutchman would have survived that storm!"
==Gallery==
Flying Dutchman at Castaway Cay.jpg|The Dutchman at Castaway Cay
POTCOfficialFlyingDutchman.jpg
Flying Dutchman SideView.jpg
Pirates of the Caribbean - The Flying Dutchman.jpeg
WDW - Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End - Boxed Set - The Flying Dutchman.jpeg
Flyingdutchman_DI.png|The player ship in Disney Infinity mocked up as the Flying Dutchman
DMTNT Concept Art Flying Dutchman 3.jpg
DMTNT Concept Art Flying Dutchman 4.jpg
DMTNT Concept Art Flying Dutchman 5.jpg
==External links==
*Flying Dutchman on Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki
Category:Ships
Category:Transportation
Category:Pirates of the Caribbean objects
Category:Kingdom Hearts objects
Category:Boats
Category:The Haunted Mansion