How to Find and Beat the Skeleton Ship

The Skeleton Ship is a ship manned by skeletons that you can encounter in Sea of Thieves. Learn where to find Skeleton Ship, how to beat it, and all the rewards and Commendations you get for beating them!

Where to Find Skeleton Ship

Randomly Spawns in the Open Seas

Skeleton Ship spawns randomly in the open seas and move from island to island. You can differentiate their ship from other players if you see a ship that has a jagged exterior, tattered sails, and multiple torches adorning the hull.

A Skeleton Ship can become aggressive if you try to shoot them with your cannon or weapon, or if you get too close to them.

How to Beat Skeleton Ship

Tips for Beating the Skeleton Ship
Use Cannonballs to Destroy the Ship Board the Ship and Defeat Skeletons Put Explosive Barrels on the Ship Put Water on the Ship to Sink it

Use Your Cannons to Sink them Like Regular Ships

The only thing special about Skeleton Ships is that they have more crew members compared to player ships. Aside from that, naval combat against them plays out pretty much the same as regular ships.

Use your cannons to make holes in their ship's hull or snipe gunners to prevent them from firing back. However, do note that Skeleton Ships like using special cannonballs like the Ballastball or Anchorball. Keep an eye out for them since they pose a threat to your ship.

Board the Ship and Defeat Skeletons

You can board the Skeleton Ship and kill all the skeletons to make sinking it easier. Before boarding, make sure to stock up on Food first, as you will face tons of skeletons and a Skeleton Captain aboard the Skeleton Ship.

Note: Shadow Skeletons are shrouded in darkness and will not take damage from regular attacks. If you encounter them while boarding, equip and raise your Lantern to get rid of their shadowy protection and render them vulnerable to attacks.

Put Explosive Barrels on the Ship

If you have some explosive barrels, you can use them to blow up the Skeleton Ship. Bring the explosive barrels and put them one level below the deck. Throw a fire bomb or burn something inside and wait until the barrels explode.

Try not to put the barrels on the lowest level, as water might get inside if the Skeleton Ship is damaged, preventing them from exploding.

Put Water on the Ship to Sink it

While not the most efficient way to sink a Skeleton Ship (since it takes ages when using this method), it is possible to throw water into the ship in order to cause it to flood and sink.

To do this, go near the Skeleton Ship or use the Harpoon to drag the ship near yours and start throwing water onto it to start filling it up. Skeletons don't use water buckets to remove water so it will only take some time before they sink.

Skeleton Ship Drops and Rewards

Random Treasures, Chests, and Supply Crates

Not all rewards above will spawn and you might also get duplicate items.

You will get random treasures and supply crates like treasure chests, bountry skulls and artefacts for defeating a Skeleton Ship. You can get all of them inside the Skeleton Ship or float around the water if you sink it.

You should be able to see a flock of birds flying around the loot if you sink the ship!

Skeleton Ship Commendations

Commendation	Requirement
United Scourge of Skeleton Ships	Defeat 25 Skeleton Ships
Scourge of Skeleton Ships	Defeat 50 Skeleton Ships

How to Get All Commendations

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