 The original HMS Rose (the replica of which became the HMS Surprise  for the film) was actually a French ship, captured by the British in  1757. When she was in dry dock in Hull, England, she was modified  along British lines and saw action under the British during the  American Revolution. She was scuttled in 1779. The replica, based on  the same plans as the original which were housed at the Admiralty in  Whitehall, London, was built in Nova Scotia in 1970 by Rhode Island  historian John Fitzhugh Millar. It was the only remaining working  frigate in the world when Peter Weir (qv) came across it at a  maritime festival. When he learned that it was for sale, Weir  concluded that he was fated to make "Master and Commander" after  all, a project he had previously turned down.