Another "attraction" tall ship sinks

probably due to a hull which leaked as if it had no caulking in its seams which is most likely closer to reality than not…

[B]Pirates of the Caribbean’ Ship Sinks[/B]

By MarEx May 28, 2014

The iconic ship used in two of the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ films has dramatically sunk off the shore of St. Lucia on Saturday while en route to be repaired.

Ten crewmembers aboard the ship were rescued by the St. Vincent Coast guard after it started to buckle in choppy waters. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.

It remains unclear exactly what caused the ship to sink.

The Brig Unicorn was built in 1948. During its film career, the Brig Unicorn served as The Henrietta in ‘The Curse of the Black Pearl’ and as The Terrashaw in ‘Dead Man’s Chest’. The ship also rose to stardom appearing as a slave ship in the 1970s TV series, Roots.

The vessel spent most of its off-air time serving as a restaurant and bar while docked in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia and was a popular local tourist attraction.

Unicorn was not a dockside attraction, she was a seagoing vessel that had sailed very successfully for many years. Tall ship’s don’t just sink because they’re made of popsicle sticks and elmers glue, they also sink for the same reasons that big steel ships sink. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Having sails and being made of wood doesn’t preclude a vessel from going to sea.

I am not so sure about that Paddy…maybe the hull was caulked with DAP?

Ten crewmembers aboard the ship were rescued by the St. Vincent Coast guard after it started to buckle in choppy waters. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.

I wonder if that was the same type of “buckle” that the AIVIQ was using to tow the KULLUK?

just to make clear, I am sad at the loss of a nearly irreplaceable vessel…I doubt very seriously if a new one will be built so now the world is less another fine old brig. I am sorry she is gone.

[QUOTE=PaddyWest2012;138298]Unicorn was not a dockside attraction, she was a seagoing vessel that had sailed very successfully for many years. Tall ship’s don’t just sink because they’re made of popsicle sticks and elmers glue, they also sink for the same reasons that big steel ships sink. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Having sails and being made of wood doesn’t preclude a vessel from going to sea.[/QUOTE]

Saw her sail 3-4 times a week for sunset cruises in St. Lucia in 2009 and then again last year. Cannons booming as she left and returned to harbor.

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well that sucks, had a couple of pics of her @ dock down Island.

maybe the hull was caulked with DAP?

//youtu.be/j9B3WuLPfrc

I had the history of the US registered Unicorn here. The vessel that sank is foreign.

Brig Unicorn, the iconic vessel filmed in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, has sunk off the shore of St Lucia. The incident happened on Saturday while the vessel was en route to St Vincent for repairs. It had ten crew members on board.

The Brig Unicorn encountered difficulties and sank due to an unidentified cause. The crew said the vessel had been shaking as if it had hit something. The vessel started to take in water rapidly and the crew was unable to pump it out with all the water pumps on board.

Captain Sam Alleyne and the other nine crew members have been rescued by the St. Vincent Coast guard. All have been reported in good health condition.

In its film career, the famous ship played The Henrietta in “The Curse Of The Black Pearl” and The Terrasaw in “Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End.” Her debut in the cinema was in Roots, American TV series from the 1970s (the series won Golden Globe in 1977). Most recently, the mighty vessel served as a bar-restaurant and tourists attraction in the Rodney Bay Marina (St Lucia).

Boat I work for pulled her off the rocks in woods hole one summer, I was just getting off a plane and missed the job. Lady owner was a fucking lunatic, tried to refuse to lay for the salvage.

Wasn’t it for teenage girls at one point? Thought that was the case seeing it at a tall shops thing.

[QUOTE=seriously;138303]Ship’s History

Deo Volente I with Dutch fleet number TX11 circa 1947
Originally built in 1947 under the name Deo Volente I with the fleet number of TX 11, Unicorn’s hull was crafted from recycled metals of captured German U-boats salvaged after World War II. She was built in the Netherlands as a motor fishing vessel at the shipyard De Vooruitgang at Gouwsluis, Alphen aan de Rijn for Dutch owners Gebr. Vlaming & L. Bremer from the Island of Texel. Her given name of Deo Volente I (God Willing) implies that her owners were most likely God fearing, conservative Christian Dutch reformed fishermen. With her locomotive style 1500 horsepower diesel engine, this strong vessel trawled the North Atlantic’s fishing grounds for 32 years with various owners and under other names such as Pieter Andre vessel number HD 35 in the late 1960’s (owner L.R. de Boer named after the owner’s two sons) and Willem Senior vessel number WR 235 in the early 1970’s (owner W. & J. v.d. Veen).

Deo Volente I with Dutch fleet number TX11 circa 1947
When her fishing days were over, she was acquired by a Dutch skipper and his wife, Pieter and Agnes Kaptein of Hoorn. By 1979 she had been converted into a sailing ship and renamed Eenhoorn or “one horn”, Dutch for Unicorn and sailed the Mediterranean.

In 1986, Eenhoorn was sold to Mr. Morris Henson who registered the vessel in Jersey under the anglicized name of Unicorn and the hull was painted black, retaining the white rail and gunwale stripes. Under her British flag, Henson sailed Unicorn out of the West Indies, Caribbean and Spanish coast as a charter vessel and treasure seeker.

Unicorn with wooden masts sailing Lake Huron 1993
The early-90’s brought a new direction for Unicorn. Curtis and Lettie Ciszek, an American couple from Bainbridge Island, Washington purchased the vessel from the ailing Henson. After a refit, they sailed the Unicorn with their four children and a crew to Grenada where she chartered out of Secret Harbour. In 1995, on her way to her second Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race, Unicorn collided with the ocean-going chemical tanker Chilibar. She was towed to Norfolk by the sailing tugantine Norfolk Rebel. Estimated repairs to the hull were higher than the insured value and the schooner was for sale once again.

Purchased by a Canadian couple who had a dream of their own, the Unicorn was converted into a Canadian certified sail training vessel. Under Captain Prothero’s ownership and management, the ship went through a re-fitting of the hull, rig and power and in 1997 she was christened with a new name, True North or Toronto. True North provided hundreds of trainees of all ages the opportunity to sail the Great Lakes, the East Coast of North America and the Caribbean. It was also at this time that the vessel became a member of the American Sail Training Association and began appearing with the ASTA fleet at port festivals throughout the Great Lakes.

A New Life

STV Unicorn under sail 2009
In the fall of 1999, True North was acquired by its current owners, Dawn and Jonathan (Jay) Santamaria of Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Along with their four daughters, they continue to promote the preservation of traditional maritime life through sail training, tall ship festivals and community involvement. In December of 2003, the schooner completed a bow to stern refit that took the ship down to its steel ribs, and was rechristened with her original schooner name, Unicorn. In the summer of 2005, Unicorn was granted a Jones Act Waiver to become a United States registered vessel and she proudly flies the American flag off her stern. This same year, co-owner Dawn Santamaria founded Sisters Under Sail, a not-for-profit on-board leadership program for teenage girls and women. Sisters Under Sail and her all-female professional crew charter Unicorn each summer sailing New England, Canadian Maritimes and the Great Lakes. Today, with her well defined mission, the 63 year old Unicorn sails with a new passion and mission. This Dutch-built beauty, rich in history, is strong and has a soul all her own.[/QUOTE]

I believe this is not the same Unicorn. The STV Unicorn is still sailing, and is US flag: http://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/UNICORN-IMO-0-MMSI-367115390

Note the different rig. Also I believe the Brig Unicorn was not US Flag.

[QUOTE=Traitor Yankee;138312]Boat I work for pulled her off the rocks in woods hole one summer, I was just getting off a plane and missed the job. Lady owner was a fucking lunatic, tried to refuse to lay for the salvage.[/QUOTE]

seems the norm; Lunatic Lady owners that is. if she wouldn’t lay for the salvage she could have at least offered to pay i figure. :rolleyes:

I hate auto correct. One day I am going to text the misses that I already paid the babysitter and it is going to type I already laid the baby sitter.

Joking aside she was nuts. After a pulling on the thing hard with 1000hp it just barely came off at high water. She claimed they were about to back off on their own power. Anything to cheat the guy who saved your ass.

[QUOTE=roundabout;138317]seems the norm; Lunatic Lady owners that is. if she wouldn’t lay for the salvage she could have at least offered to pay i figure.[/QUOTE]

make that the norm for these parsimonious penny squeezing tall ship types…there is something about this whole bunch which just reeks of being painfully cheap!

[QUOTE=mariner244;138316]I believe this is not the same Unicorn. The STV Unicorn is still sailing, and is US flag: http://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/UNICORN-IMO-0-MMSI-367115390

Note the different rig. Also I believe the Brig Unicorn was not US Flag.[/QUOTE]

agreed…these are not the same ship

[QUOTE=c.captain;138326]make that the norm for these parsimonious penny squeezing tall ship types…there is something about this whole bunch which just reeks of being painfully cheap![/QUOTE]

Replace “tall ships” with “tug boats” and I would agree. I have worked on both and the tugs have always been worse off.