Legendary 77-year-old tall ship sent to scrap
A three-masted tall ship, which has been used in films including Treasure Island, Count of Monte-Cristo, and Alice in Wonderland, has been sent to the scrapyard after almost eight decades on the water.
The Earl of Pembroke was built in Sweden 1945 as Orion and was used to haul timber in the Baltic Sea until being laid up in Denmark in 1974.
The 44.2-metre ship was later moved to the UK in 1980 where a full restoration began in 1985, with film work in mind. The restoration saw the rig changed from a schooner to a barque type, to more closely resemble Captain Cook’s HMS Endeavour. The ship was also renamed to Earl of Pembroke, in homage to HMS Endeavour‘s original name.
The ship went on to feature in numerous movies, including Treasure Island, Shipwrecked, Count of Monte-Cristo, Alice in Wonderland and Cloud Atlas. It also appeared at a number of festivals, such as the Southampton Boat Show and Liverpool Maritime Festival.
The vessel was resold by Metaco LLP in 2017 to Scarlet Sails Ltd.
In recent years, the vessel had been docked in the Den Helder post in Holland. However, according to local Dutch media, the current owners could no longer meet the costs of the vessel’s maintenance.
A post on the Facebook page of Dutch shipbreakers Hoeben RDM Schepen confirms the vessel was scrapped in nearby Kampen on 2 December 2022.
