Fate of the (2) full scale ships used in the film?
Whatever happened to them?
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Hard to say but this info from film historian Rudy Behlmer might shed a little light on the question:
"But various circumstances caused The Sea Hawk to be postponed yet again for six months. Most important, putting off allowed sufficient time for the planning and construction of a unique new "maritime" sound stage on the Warners' Burbank lot. After its completion, Stage 21 (at the time the largest and most modern in the film industry) was capable of being filled with water. Thousands of feet of heavy mains, sewers, and drains had been installed. Working in several shifts daily, 375 men were employed for eleven weeks in the construction of a full-scale British man-of-war (135 feet) and a Spanish galleass (165 feet) which could be placed side by side, with some distance separating them, in the water on the stage. Previously, no ship the size of these had been built especially for stage work, either indoors or outdoors.
Warner Bros. did not believe in building practical ships and filming at sea – as, for example, MGM did for Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). Too often in such enterprises there are weather delays, seasickness, temperamental outbursts, and other problems that could cost considerable time and money. This marine stage, which no other studio had, allowed for shooting sea pictures under totally controlled conditions. The studio planned to film The Sea Wolf, Captain Horatio Hornblower, and John Paul Jones on the stage in the immediate future, but only the first of these was completed at that time. After America entered World War II the studio suspended plans for expensive period nautical films. Stage 21 was destroyed by fire in May 1952. Hornblower (1951) and John Paul Jones (1959) were filmed by Warners in England and Spain, respectively."
(Taken from a lengthy but fascinating collection of articles about the film and soundtrack here):https://goo.gl/9BVlPe
The ships may have been used in The Sea Wolf but other than that no clue. They were full scale replicas but weren't actual functioning vessels like some others built for films.
UPDATES:
No further info about what happened to the studio ships other than I found a great photo of them in the background in Stage 21 (while filming another movie) and some other interesting stuff in the links below.
http://hollywoodhistoricphotos.com/product_info.php/products_id/5179
http://hollywoodhistoricphotos.com/index.php/cPath/90_99_696/osCsid/6407ac0bac2a9b8b8e85109ea1f3063d
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1952/05/17/page/2/article/fire-and-blasts-wreck-film-lot-stage-and-sets#text
https://www.questia.com/magazine/1P3-1129358931/the-sea-hawk-sets-sail
Further info The Sea Hawk fans:
There's a great book out with many photos titled "Warner Bros. Hollywood's Ultimate Backlot" by Steven Bingen (2014) which I really enjoyed and has lots of background info on the studio complex itself especially the main Burbank CA one and the movies and TV shows filmed there. Some interesting info on The Sea Hawk filming for fans of the swashbuckler. I forgot how many classic and great films were made by Warners and learned a lot about the history of the place.
Quoting the book: "Stage 21 purpose built in 1939 for The Sea Hawk (1940) was the largest sound stage in the world and most unique. Two 18th century ships were built, a British man-of-war (The Falcon) and a Spanish galleon (The Albatross). Each ship was constructed to sit on a steel platform submerged in an indoor lake which averaged 3 to 12 ft. deep, and move through the water via a series of submerged tracks. Enormous rockers...could simulate the pitch of the ocean on either ship. The equipment was designed so that when the water was drained scenes involving earthquakes for future films could utilize the same technology. Along one wall a 48ft wide section could be removed opening up the stage to another outdoor lake. The indoor and outdoor sections could then be turned into a single enormous set, as well as the opening was used to float the ships, which had been constructed in the Mill, into the stage via the lake. The studio apparently had plans to follow up The Sea Hawk with a series of expensive aquatic pictures, but ultimately, although the film was a success, World War II and the crippling loss of foreign markets that came with it curtailed these expensive ambitions." (End quote)
The Mill was across the studio complex from Stage 21 so I assume they built a part or all of each ship there and somehow moved them over by truck/dollies ?? on one of several streets running through the studio to the outdoor lake next to Stage 21 where they could then be floated into the stage bldg. There's a great aerial photo showing the stage and lake next to it. That stage was enormous but unfortunately burned down in 1952.
The ships were 16th century, not 18th century.
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