Stats
Name: Going Merry
Type: Caravel
Alignment: Strawhat Pirates
Crew: 7
Armament: 4 Cannons (+ 7 Crew!)
From the manga One Piece by Eichiro Oda
Frame and Form
The Going Merry is a caravel designed by a guy called Merry. What he lacks in imaginative naming skills, he makes up for in resilient ship design. As may be obvious from the number of ‘repairs’ made to the ship, the Strawhat Pirates have put it through a lot since they entered the Grand Line. The prow was knocked off from a collision with a whale (which subsequently ate the ship whole); the mast has been ripped off at least twice (the latter time because it was also on fire); railing and hull have been bitten or smashed off by various antagonists and the ship was blasted up into the clouds. Not to mention damage caused by numerous cannon balls, posts and bombs from conventional battles. The entire bow of the ship is kept attached with a large strip of metal and the sides of the hull are also patched up with metal sheets.
Armour and Armaments
The Merry has four cannons on board, one forward facing, one on the stern deck facing backwards, and one on each side below deck. The Merry has three decks, and includes a kitchen/meeting room, bathroom, men’s room, women’s room and storage. The crew’s resident thief and opportunist, Nami has planted three mikan trees on the deck that provides the crew with citrus fruits to prevent scurvy.
The Going Merry is captained by Monkey D. Luffy and frequently helmed by Tony Tony Chopper. Nami acts as navigator and the sharp shooter Usopp mans the cannons. Roronoa Zoro is usually the guy to raise the anchors. Sanji and Robin don’t have a particular role in sailing the ship but will help out where necessary, for example: rigging the sails correctly. When under fire, the crew often intercept incoming cannons themselves with creative use of their own fighting skills!
It is a swift ship and combined with Nami's excellent navigation skills has always evaded permanent capture from the large and more heavily armed ships of the Marines. The Strawhat Pirate's Jolly Roger was designed by Luffy himself, although was 'modified' slightly by the much more artistic Usopp shortly after Luffy's attempt at painting the main sail.
