Moby Dick

Moby Dick was the Whitebeard Pirates' main flagship. Its name was revealed in the third databook.

Ship Design and Appearance
Like the other four ships seen under Whitebeard's command, the Moby Dick was a large battleship with a cachalot figurehead. It was, however, significantly larger than the other four and even than the already large Red Force, and as the name suggests, the whale figurehead was white. Also, while the other four ships were paddle-ships, the Moby Dick did not show any paddle-wheels on its sides.

For the Summit War of Marineford, it was coated with a special resin from the Sabaody Archipelago, allowing it to dive 10,000 meters below sea level.

Past
With Whitebeard controlling a territory within the New World, the Moby Dick sailed through the waters of the second half of the Grand Line.

30 years ago, the ship was wrecked in the region of Wano Country, Kuri. Suffered severe damage and many provisions ended up at sea, where it took a week to repair it.

After two weeks, the Moby Dick set sail, but Kozuki Oden clung to the ship's mast with a long chain, while Izou followed him to bring it back. Marco rushed to untie the chain, but Whitebeard stopped him and ordered Oden's servant to come aboard, promising to welcome the samurai to the crew as long as he remained tied to the chain for three days. Ten minutes before he succeeded, Oden heard a woman scream for help and released the chain to go to the island. The next day the Moby Dick landed there and Whitebeard welcomed on board Oden and Toki, the woman she had saved, as well as Nekomamushi and Inuarashi, who had been hiding on the ship.

Four years later, the ship arrived at an island where the Roger Pirates had defeated a handful of marines. Here she stayed for at least three days, before setting sail.

22 years ago, Shiki boarded the Moby Dick to propose an alliance to Whitebeard, which he refused.

Four years ago, she went to intercept the Spade Pirates after their captain and Jinbe fought.

Jaya Arc
After Rockstar, a member of the Red Haired Pirates, arrives at the Moby Dick to deliver a letter from his captain to Whitebeard.

Post-Enies Lobby Arc
The Red Haired Pirates then board the Moby Dick, where the captain wants to speak with Whitebeard. Once on board, Shanks damages the ship using his Haoshoku Haki.

Amazon Lily Arc
When Ace's impending capture and execution was announced, Moby Dick and the rest of the fleet's ships headed for Marineford. Later they are covered with the Yarukiman mangroves.

Marineford Arc


The Moby Dick and the three of the four other main ships continued traveling underwater until they arrived directly into the middle of the bay of Marineford, surprising the Marines. Having done so, the Moby Dick and the other ships bypassed the large battleship blockade surrounding the island. With the Moby Dick and the rest of Whitebeard's forces arriving in Marineford, the battle to save Ace began.

When Admiral Aokiji froze the entire sea to trap all the ships, Marines started to open fire against the Moby Dick, with the intention to sink it, and Dracule Mihawk slashed at the vessel, but all attempts were negated by the crew. Halfway through the war, when the Marines had set the siege wall to entrap the pirates, Admiral Akainu rained lava on the pirates to melt the ice. Several of the meteors struck the Moby Dick, setting the ship ablaze and ultimately leading to its destruction, much to Whitebeard's sorrow and the crew's fury, as the ship had served them for decades. As the Moby Dick burned and sank, Whitebeard apologized for being unable to save it.

Anime and Manga Differences


Originally in the anime, the Moby Dick's figurehead and stern were colored blue like a regular blue whale, like the other paddle ships of the Whitebeard Pirates. It also has less cannons on the starboard in its debut, making the ship look visually smaller than later on. Later in the anime however, the figurehead was changed to white in order to match the manga, and the ship was given more cannons on the side to make it look bigger.

Also, in its emerging in Marineford, the Moby Dick's resin coating can be barely seen in the manga, but is far more noticeable in the anime due to the colored appearance of the ship.

Another difference shown in the anime is that when Akainu set the Moby Dick on fire, the Whitebeard Pirates tried to put it out, but ultimately failed when more meteors came raining down. This scene was not shown in the manga, as the ship simply burned as the crew watched in fury.

Trivia

 * The ship's name and design is based on the classic tale "Moby Dick", where the titular character was a white sperm whale. Ironically, the original Moby Dick was victim to coloring issues, being described as having a white head leading most artists to depict it as a totally white whale.
 * Aside from the Moby Dick, the Whitebeard Pirates possess at least four ships of similar design, but with a blue coloring and paddles on the sides.
 * It is possible that the Moby Dick possessed a Klabautermann, as Whitebeard was seen apologising to the ship after it was destroyed by Akainu.
 * This could be seen as a parallel to the Going Merry, as both ships were seen burning and sinking as their captains apologised for not being able to save them, and Marco mentioned how the ship had carried the crew for decades, just as the Merry had carried the Straw Hat Pirates for a shorter time, but through many adventures.

Merchandise
Figurines of Moby Dick are presented in several merchandise series, particularly in One Piece Wobbling Pirate Ship Collection and One Piece Super Ship Collection.

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