A ship replica is a reconstruction of a no longer existing ship. Replicas can range from authentically reconstructed, fully seaworthy ships, to ships of modern construction that give an impression of a historic vessel. Some replicas may not even be seaworthy, but built for other educational or entertainment purposes. Reasons to build a replica include historic research into shipbuilding, national pride, exposition at a museum or entertainment (e.g., for a TV series), and/or education programs for the unemployed. For example, see the project to build a replica of the Continental

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

. Apart from building a genuine replica of the ship, sometimes the construction materials, tools and methods can also copied from the ships' original era, as is the case with the replica of ''Batavia'' in

Lelystad Lelystad () is a municipality and a city in the centre of the Netherlands, and it is the capital of the province of Flevoland. The city, built on reclaimed land, was founded in 1967 and was named after Cornelis Lely, who engineered the Afsluitdi ...

and the

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

replica in Rotterdam (

Delfshaven Delfshaven is a borough of Rotterdam, Netherlands, on the right bank of river Nieuwe Maas. It was a separate municipality until 1886. The town of Delfshaven grew around the port of the city of Delft. Delft itself was not located on a major river ...

Definition

The term "replica" in this context does not normally include scale models. The term

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

is used for an old ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public. A ship replica may also be a generic replica, one that represents a certain type of ship rather than a particular historic example, like '' Kamper Kogge'', replicating the Cogs that were used extensively in Northern Europe by the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...

in the Middle Ages, but where there is little knowledge of specific ships. Some generic type replicas such as Thor Heyerdahl's ''

Ra II Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8,000&nb ...

'', qualify as true replicas as these ships were built to investigate the craft and or culture of the original era. That they do not replicate a specific vessel is mainly because no details of such a specific vessel are available. Some other ships that are modeled after ships of a certain type or era (and are in that sense replicas) do not qualify as true replicas. Some ships may be borderline cases, such as ''Kanrin Maru'', which is actually twice the size of the original, but built following the plans of the original. Replicas can be temporary, cheap and very simple, such as the replica of a Viking ship that was burnt at the Leixlip Festival. Notable historic type ships that are ''not'' replicas include: * (1795) is strictly speaking not a replica but the original vessel. However, most of the ship's timber has been replaced over time, with only 10-15% of the original remaining. This is a modern version of the philosopher's dilemma concerning replica versus original; known as the Ship of Theseus dilemma. * (1765) is still the original vessel, although unlike ''Constitution'', she is in dry dock and does not sail. She has also been heavily restored, with only 10-15% of her original timber remaining. * ''Mircea'', which is an almost exact copy of '' Gorch Fock''. ''Mircea'' was built as a copy because ''Gorch Fock'' was a very successful ship. Thus ''Mircea'' was not built as a replica per se, but as a copy for other reasons (i.e. to perform economically, in this case as a training vessel). * '' Stad Amsterdam'' is a generic clipper type ship combining the best qualities of

clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "C ...

s of the past with modern materials and technologies. Another ambiguous case subject to the Ship of Theseus dilemma is ''Niagara''. The original was sunk in 1820 for preservation, and the ship has been rebuilt three times since. The third reconstruction was considerably more extensive, and the only parts from the original which were retained are non-structural, leading many authorities to classify her as a replica, rather than a reconstructed original.

Notable ship replicas

Some sailing ship replicas with their home port; and key information of the original (many articles are about the original ship):

Europe, Middle East, Australia and the Americas

Austronesia

East Asia

* ''Kanrin Maru''; Minami Awaji harbour, Japan; a double-size replica of a Japanese warship *'' Namihaya'';

Osaka Maritime Museum The was a maritime museum in Osaka, Japan. It was opened by the Mayor of Osaka City on 14 July 2000 having started on site in March 1998. Designed by architect Paul Andreu with engineering design by Arup and Tohata. the museum was built on rec ...

, Japan; 5th-century Japanese ship replica *'' Naniwa Maru''; Osaka Maritime Museum, Japan; Edo period merchant ship * ''San Juan Bautista''; Ishinomaki, Japan; a Japanese warship * Turtle ship; a generic replica of a Korean ship *'' Michinoku Maru''; Michinoku Traditional Wooden Boat Museum, Japan; 18th-century Japanese trade ship (Kitamae Bune) replica *'' Princess Taiping''; a replica of a Ming Dynasty Chinese junk. *

Replica A 1:1 replica is an exact copy of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without claiming to be identical. Al ...

(stationary, not seaworthy) of a

Chinese treasure ship A Chinese treasure ship (, literally "gem ship") is a type of large wooden ship in the fleet of admiral Zheng He, who led seven voyages during the early 15th-century Ming dynasty. The size of Chinese treasure ship has been a subject of debate ...

, in the Treasure Boat Shipyard Park, Nanjing *'' Dingyuan''; a replica of an Imperial Chinese

ironclad An ironclad is a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by Wrought iron, iron or steel iron armor, armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships ...

from the late 19th century

Other vessels

* SS ''Bandırma''; Turkish passenger cargo vessel *''

Jewel of Muscat The ''Jewel of Muscat'' is a ship based on the design of the Belitung shipwreck, an Arabian dhow that was found off the coast of Belitung Island, Indonesia, in 1998 and subsequently salvaged. It was built in a joint effort by the governments of O ...

''; Omani 9th-century sailing ship built to retrace the route of the original ship from Oman to Singapore. * ''Ictineu II''; Barcelona, Spain; a replica of the first mechanically powered steam driven submarine. * The Hjortspring Boat is replica of a Danish Iron Age rowing boat. *At the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, replicas of Viking ships are built. * Various projects for building replicas of the ill-fated have been proposed over the years. The first ''Titanic'' replica to actually commence construction is being built by Chinese firm Seven Star Energy Investment; by summer 2021, the hull is essentially complete and construction of the superstructure is beginning. The ship will not sail on any ocean, but be permanently docked on a river in Sichuan province to function as the main attraction for the Romandisea Seven Star International Cultural Tourism Resort. * Various "replicas" of Noah's Ark have been built. Whether they are properly regarded as "replicas" depends on whether one takes the Biblical flood story as mythology or fact. Since the Biblical description of the vessel is very brief beyond the basic measures, the exact design of any "replica" is necessarily conjectural. * M/V Katzen Wooden replica of a two masted, square sailed lake boat which operates on lake Goodwin, WA.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Replicas of ships
Replica of Captain Cook's ship, Whitby

Extensive photo gallery, overview of ship replicas all over the world
Sea Club Polar Odyssey

The wooden ships company "Varyag"

Shipbuilding