Pirate Ship (obstacle)

Pirate Ships are a recurring enemy boat in the The Legend of Zelda series, armed with a large cannon that can shoot bombs. Attacking with ones' own cannon repeatedly will eventually sink them, but they are quite sturdy. They attempt to get close enough to the player's vehicle for the crew to board it.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
In The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Pirate Ships are found in the Northwestern Sea, the Southeastern Sea, and the Northeastern Sea, where they are always accompanied by two Cannon Boats. They are larger, faster, and even more durable than the Cannon Boats, but upon being sunk, will always leave behind a chest for the Salvage Arm, similar to the Warships in The Wind Waker. They take ten hits from the cannon to sink. If one gets too close to the SS Linebeck for too long, however, the Umi Blins inside will board it and need to be fended off. While not required to occur to complete the game, it needs to happen to obtain all Courage Gems, as Linebeck rewards Link with one for fending the Umi Blins off the first time.

Additionally, Jolene has her own unique ship, which looks quite different from the ones manned by Umi Blins, fires torpedos instead of bombs, is even faster, and cannot be sunk, only evaded.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
In The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Pirate Ships are now manned by Miniblins and Big Blins and are unique to the Ocean Realm, with other realms having Pirate Tanks instead. They only appear when the Spirit Train is carrying a passenger. The first encounter with one, when the train is carrying Carben, is unavoidable as it will move too fast to avoid being boarded. Further encounters, however, can be avoided. If Link fails to fend off the attackers, the passenger will be taken hostage to the Pirate Hideout. If the location has not been unlocked as will be the case in the first encounter, this will result in a Game Over. When Pirate Ships appear, they are accompanied by the same music that previously signified Jolene's ship.