I loved the spanish galleon


I loved the Spanish galleon when I saw the movie as a kid. That's what an old time sailing ship should look like.

Although it looked more like a c. 1700 ship of the line than a galleon, which is only fitting. A real galleon would be anachronistic, and it was a little anachronistic for Morgan to call it a galleon, when ship, merchantman, ship of the line, treasure ship, man o war, etc. would have been more correct.

I first saw the film on a black and white tv and I thought that the sails wee green instead of red.

Anyway, the shots of the sea battle between the galleon and Blackbeard's ship were taken from another pirate movie in which they were the opening scene, as I remember -- possibly The Black Swan or The Spanish Main . I just looked at the trailor for The Spanish Main (1945) and it looks like the battle came from that movie.

What did Morgan mean when he said: "So that's it! The black-hearted butcher. He thinks he can hoodwink old Henry Morgan, well that's a game at which two can play. He might run from me... but he wouldn't run from the sight of a rich, Spanish galleon! So I think we'll have some devilment tonight in the Nicholas Channel. We'll take that galleon!... and use it as a bait for Blackbeard. When he closes on her, he'll find himself outgunned, outfought, outwitted, and dead as mutton! Come on, let's be at it!"?

Obviously he meant that they would said it toward Blackbeard's suspected lurking place and hope it would tempt him to attack. But if that galleon was one which was docked in the harbor, wouldn't Blackbeard have seen it as he was sailing out? Wouldn't some of the pirate sailors know how long it had been in harbor and a lot abut its business, having picked up a lot of waterfront gossip about likely targets?

Wouldn't Morgan expect some pirate to say: "There's no treasure on that galleon, and the only reason it would have sailed ahead of schedule must be to try to catch us."? Did Morgan expect Blackbeard to say: "Don't be silly. Ar, don't ye know all them Spanish treasure ships look alike? I've already captured three that be twins to this one."

So perhaps that galleon was not in the harbor at the time that Blackbeard sailed out three hours earlier. If it had sailed in after Blackbeard sailed out, it is a little strange that Sir Henry had heard about it's arrival before he heard about Blackbeard's escape.

Anyway, I wonder if Sir Henry also meant "take" as in requisition or capture when he said they would take that galleon. Was he planning to commandeer or even capture a galleon which he saw sailing along the coast or entering the harbor right before he heard that Blackbeard escaped? Was the galleon one which had been captured illegally and docked in a secluded cove at Morgan's estate to take off the treasure, a ship that nobody in town, such as the pirates, would have heard about or seen?

Anyway, if Morgan's men captured that galleon shortly before or after he spoke that line, it probably would have had some recent and unrepaired battle damage during the battle with Blackbeard, which might have scared away the suspicious pirates or been considered a lucky break by them, and would have been visible in the battle scene.

So, I am kind of wondering about the fictional history of that galleon.

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It sounds like he intended to capture a galleon which he knew was scheduled to sail that night through the "Nicholas Channel". Note he said that NIGHT. The battle with Blackbeard was in the daytime. He decided to capture that galleon for the express purpose of luring Blackbeard, by a surprise attack that would capture it intact. Probably Morgan would have not bothered to capture it otherwise; perhaps because it didn't have any treasure. If it wasn't carrying any treasure, it probably be easy to catch it off guard.

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Thank you. Your idea seems likely.

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The scene of the pirate ship fighting the Spanish Galleon seems to have been take from The Spanish Main (1945).

Here is a link to a review of The Spanish Main (1945) with a good image of the Galleon.

And here is a clip of part of the battle from The Spanish Main (1945):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDVbctyewyI



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