Naman Shrestha
Loosely based on the eponymous 1988 novel written by William Brinkley, TNT’s ‘The Last Ship’ is an action thriller drama series created by Hank Steinberg and Steven Kane. The USS Nathan James is en route to the Arctic, with Captain Tom Chandler on board with his stalwart crew, including virologist Dr. Rachel Scott, when a global viral pandemic breaks out and wipes out more than 80% of the world’s population. Now, being the only ones unaffected by the contagious disease, the 218-person crew of the US Navy missile destroyer must come up with a way to save humanity from extinction.
Despite receiving orders from the US government to return home, Tom decides to refuse the orders and stay at sea as he believes that it is the safest place to develop a vaccine. The task to create a cure is given to Dr. Rachel, who was originally sent to the ship to study birds, and other scientists and doctors on board. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew members do everything they can to protect them from the perils of the pandemic. Starring the late Eric Dane, the post-apocalyptic show also features Rhona Mitra, Adam Baldwin, Charles Parnell, and Travis Van Winkle. ‘The Last Ship’ is mostly set aboard the USS Nathan James, where the crew members try to save humanity, while the rest of the world is depicted in a post-apocalyptic state.
The Last Ship Filming Locations
‘The Last Ship’ was reportedly filmed in California, particularly in San Diego and Los Angeles County. According to reports, the pilot was shot in November 2012 over the course of a couple of weeks. As for the final two seasons (season 4 and season 5), they were filmed back-to-back between March 2017 and the fall of the same year. The production for the fourth season was halted for a while as Eric Dane reportedly sought treatment for depression around the same time.
San Diego, California
A significant chunk of ‘The Last Ship’ was lensed in the city of San Diego, where the filming unit set up camp onboard the Naval Base San Diego (NBSD) at 3380 Sturtevant Street. For the pilot episode, they utilized the Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey to depict the fictional USS Nathan James. The assistant director, Basti Van Der Woude, shared a few words of appreciation for the US Navy in an interview with Naval Today.
Expressing his gratitude and admiration, he stated, “We are so thankful to the Navy for their hard work and cooperation. It is so impressive to see this much hardware in one place. I have the utmost respect for Sailors who have to be out to sea for months at a time.” Throughout the production of the post-apocalyptic show, the team boarded various real-life US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, including the USS Russell (DDG-59), the USS William P. Lawrence, and the USS Dewey (DDG-105), to record scenes set aboard the fictional missile destroyer.
Los Angeles County, California
The production team of the Eric Dane starrer also took over multiple locales of Los Angeles County, especially to tape indoor scenes. For instance, they utilized the amenities and studio space at MBS Media Campus at 1600 Rosecrans Avenue in the city of Manhattan Beach. Also known as Manhattan Beach Studios, the film studio consists of 15 different sound stages, a New York Street backlot, production offices, and several other extra services.
Another film studio where shooting for ‘The Last Ship’ was conducted is the Culver Studios at 9336 West Washington Boulevard in Culver City. Established in 1918, it offers six sound stages spread across 92,000 square feet, five new creative office buildings, two new parking structures, state-of-the-art technology and studio support systems, conference rooms, production offices, and more, making it an ideal filming destination for all kinds of projects. In order to simulate global settings, several important harbor scenes were lensed at Los Angeles Harbor in the neighborhood of San Pedro in Los Angeles.
The USS Iowa doubled as the fictional USS Nathan James as the crew members were seen hanging green screens on board the retired battleship. Moreover, the RMS Queen Mary, located at 1126 Queens Highway in Long Beach, hosted the production of ‘The Last Ship.’ For the purpose of shooting scenes set outside of the fictional missile destroyer, the cast and crew members set up camp in and around the King Gillette Ranch at 26800 Mulholland Highway in Calabasas, Malibu Rocky Oaks Estate, and the Angeles Abbey Memorial Park at 1515 East Compton Boulevard in Compton.
Read More: HBO’s The Last of Us: Where Was the TV Show Filmed?
