The ship was meant to be a close replica of the original Rose, but still fill a commercial function. John Fitzhugh Millar who commissioned the ship build gave Bolger copies of the original British Admiralty drawings, Bolger modified the hull shape below the water line, sharpening up her entry so she sailed to windward better. Unlike some square-riggers, she could sail two points on the wind provided that seas remained under four feet or so. Bolger also changed the arrangement of her decks, at the bank's insistence, so that she could be used as a tavern and restaurant, though she was never used as such. Rose was built at the Smith and Rhuland shipyard in Lunenburg, a yard which had established a reputation for large and successful replicas such as HMS in 1960 and in 1963. The ship was inspected and certified by the United States Coast Guard. She spent the first ten years of her life in Newport, Rhode Island sailing in Newport Harbor and as a dockside attraction. In the summer of 1972, Rose was hired for the film "The Man Without a Country", a made-for-television production. Norman Rosemont Productions couldn't find the money to take the ship out sailing, so all the filming was shot with sails set, as the ship was securely moored to the pier, next to the causeway to Goat Island. During filming Cliff Robertson had to hide that he had a broken leg at the time. In 1984, already in serious disrepair, she was purchased by Kaye Williams and brought to Bridgeport, Connecticut, and operated as a sail training vessel in the 1980s and 1990s, run by the HMS Rose Foundation based in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States. In her lifetime as Rose, her figurehead had to be replaced twice, each time slightly upgraded. One was damaged in a storm off Bermuda on her way to Norfolk, Virginia in June 1998. The figurehead was named in fun as "Chester" by the crew. Late in the 1990s, the publisher W. W. Norton & Company rented Rose in New York for a pier-side party to celebrate the publication of Patrick O'Brian's latest novel. O'Brian himself was present, and he casually mentioned to Roses captain Richard Bailey that if Rose were painted in an 1805 colour scheme she would be a "dead ringer" for the frigate Surprise that appeared in his books. Bailey quickly ordered his crew to get out the paint and make the changes. O'Brian was so impressed that he changed his mind about his prohibition of having any of his books converted into film, and Norton immediately started looking for a Hollywood production company.
Transformation into HMS ''Surprise''
The ship was sold to the 20th Century Fox film studio in March 2001, and underwent extensive modifications to be used in the making of the film , in which she portrayed the Royal Navy frigate HMS with a story based on several of the books by Patrick O'Brian. The modifications included a reshaped stern, all deck structures removed, the single ship's wheel replaced by a double wheel, period fighting tops fitted, new sails, and the figurehead replaced.
Renaming as HMS ''Surprise''
After the film was complete, the ship was leased and then purchased by the Maritime Museum of San Diego which has restored her to sailing condition as of September 2007. The ship has officially been re-registered as "HMS Surprise" in honor of her role in the film. She sails several times a year, often with the museum's other tall ships, the schooner and the 1863 barque. In 2010, she portrayed HMS Providence in the Disneyadventure film .
Related facts
Although she is known by the prefix HMS, meaning Her Majesty's Ship, she is not, and had never been, commissioned in the Royal Navy. In 1991, The Connecticut General Assembly passed "An Act Concerning the HMS Rose" in which the ship was commissioned as a vessel of the Connecticut Naval Militia. The act stated that the H.M.S. Rose Foundation was responsible for maintaining the ship, but when the ship was sold to 20th Century Fox, the statute was not repealed and is still in effect.
