The Sea Hawk (1924) features five ships that were specially-built for the production at a reported cost of $250,000. This was done by outfitting the wooden exteriors of existing craft to the design of Fred Gabourie, known for his work in constructing props used in Buster Keaton slapstick films. The Moorish Galleass, The Spanish Galleon, and two English frigates called The Silver Heron and The Swallow.
The sailing ships were towed by a U.S. Navy destroyer, which also served the role of feeding the crews on all of the ships.
The production centered around Santa Catalina Island for several weeks with some location work near Burlingame [near San Francisco], with a crew of 600 (some sources state 1,000) located there. Supplies were sent out on a barge from Los Angeles daily. During several battle scenes, cameramen filmed from the top of a 35-foot mast and the side of a high cliff.
This film was restored and preserved by the UCLA Film and Television Archive and the Library of Congress.