Dying Gull

The Dying Gull was a sloop that sailed in the Caribbean during the 1750s.

History

The Dying Gull was built at some unspecified point likely before 1751, but was soon left beached at the Saint Martin Shipyard. Famed Captain Jack Sparrow and his motley crew of pirates would soon come into ownership of the small sloop. Despite the fact that the vessel was stranded on land, they used it as a base-of-operations for the crew. It was here that they brought the vault from the bank of the town in Saint Martin after stealing it, along with nearly the entire bank. However, after discovering that all of the gold had subsequently fallen out of the vault during the chase that had ensued after it was stolen, Jack's crew left him, stating that he had lost his luck, his ship, and now his crew. Before they had left, Jack had stated that he had a ship, only for Cremble to argue that the Gull was hardly a ship. Jack replied that his beloved Black Pearl had never left his side, holding up the bottle in which the ship was trapped. After losing his crew, Jack remained aboard the Gull looking at the Pearl, but soon left and headed into town.^[1]

After Henry Turner had paid the crew several silver pieces to help him rescue Jack and the supposed witch Carina Smyth from the gallows, the group returned to the Gull, with Turner and Smyth as prisoners. The Dying Gull would be used by Jack during the Quest for the Trident of Poseidon. As the crew were doubtful of the Gull being capable of floating, Jack took it out to sea nevertheless, and, much to the surprise and joy of the crew, it was able to float. It was on this vessel that Jack threatened to throw Henry overboard if Carina did not reveal the location of the map to the Trident of Poseidon. However, when he did throw Henry overboard, there had actually been a longboat attached to the ship, which protected Henry from drowning.^[1]

However, as they were nearing Hangman's Bay, the crew learned that the undead were coming after them, or, rather, Jack. They immediately turned on Jack, and sent him, Carina and Henry out on a longboat. With Joshamee Gibbs now elected as captain, the ship sailed out to open seas, but was soon spotted by John Scarfield and his crew of the British Royal Navy ship, the Essex. Noticing the ship and wanting to avoid punishment, Gibbs relinquished captaincy of the Gull to Scrum before the ship was apprehended by the Navy, who captured its crew.^[1] The ship's further fate is unknown.

Design and appearance

A single-masted sloop class vessel, the Dying Gull was old but still sturdy enough to stay afloat. She was propelled by five sails, one spanker, one topsail, and three fore stay sails. She had eight gunports but no cannons on deck. However, she was armed with one swivel gun.^[1]

Behind the scenes

• The Dying Gull first appeared in The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth,^[2] the tie-in novel to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.^[1] While the ship was portrayed by the Rainbow Gypsy in Dead Men Tell No Tales, a replica of the ship was used in some scenes.^[4]
• In one of the bloopers for Dead Men Tell No Tales, Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow jokingly calls the ship the Wounded Diseased Canary.^{[citation needed]}
• The idea of Jack Sparrow having a replacement ship for the Black Pearl until she was restored from a ship in a bottle to her original state dates back from Terry Rossio's original script for Dead Men Tell No Tales, in which Jack and Scrum had owned a ship known as the Cuttlefish.^[5]
• In Jeff Nathanson's 2013 early screenplay draft of the Dead Men Tell No Tales, the Dying Gull was originally owned by Pig Kelly before it was stolen by Jack Sparrow and his crew. When Jack Sparrow escaped from Port Royal, Kelly's crew followed him aboard their own ship, the shallop Essex. Kelly's crew eventually caught up with Sparrow and attacked the Gull, but Sparrow's crew managed to repel the attackers.^[6]
• In early concept work of Jeremy Love, the Dying Gull was bigger than in the finished version of the film, also having a bigger black sail.^[7]

Appearances

The Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Dying Gull.

• The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth (First appearance)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Novelization
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales: Movie Graphic Novel

Notes and references