The Thousand Sunny is the second ship of the Straw Hat Pirates, built after the Going Merry was destroyed. It is often referred to as Sunny (サニー, Sanī) by the crew.
It is a brigantine-type ship designed and built by Franky with help from Yokozuna, Iceburg, and the remaining Galley-La foremen who were among the best shipwrights in the world.
Built from Adam Wood, it is a magnificent ship of the finest craftsmanship at least double the size of the Going Merry. Its features include practically all of the various requests the Straw Hats had before arriving in Water 7.
The Thousand Sunny is a brigantine, a highly versatile type of ship that relies on the skills of its navigator. The ship has a lawn on her deck, complete with a swing and a slide, as well as an observation tower for a crow's nest. The huge masts give the ship extreme maneuverability. Like the Going Merry, the figurehead is an animal's head, specifically a lion with a stylized mane. Due to the mane's ambiguity, the lion was mistaken for both a sunflower and a sun during the ship's construction, much to Franky's frustration. The ship holds sixteen cannons: seven traditional cannons on each side of the ship and two specialized air cannons—the Gaon Cannon in the figurehead and the Coup de Burst cannon astern. By the admission of Jinbe, a masterful helmsman, the Thousand Sunny is a good ship, which Franky admitted that Jinbe was the best candidate to bring out the ship's full potential after hearing of his talent as a helmsman.
In Volume 46 of the manga, a complete set of blueprints of the Thousand Sunny was given in the same fashion as the Going Merry's.
The figurehead of the Thousand Sunny is a large lion face with two crossbones behind it in the manner of a Jolly Roger. The mouth of the figurehead can open in order to reveal the Gaon Cannon for frontal attacks, and the lion's mane can rotate like a propeller to move the ship backwards if needed.
The Thousand Sunny's helm is located at the front of the ship. Unlike the conventional steering wheels found on traditional sailing ships, the position of the Sunny's steering wheel resembles those found on modern ships. The controls for the Soldier Dock System are located on the steering wheel itself. A knob allows one to choose which compartments to position at the opening on the side of the ship, and a lever situated next to the wheel can then be used to open the compartments. The lever not only operates the compartments for the Soldier Dock System, but also doubles as the lever that initiates the Coup de Burst. In the anime, the lever was shown being used for the buildup of cola energy in the Energy Room, and upon completion, the user at the helm pulls the lever to activate the Coup de Burst. A bench is conveniently located near the steering wheel. The Sunny also has a built-in Log Pose, located on a metal pillar of medium height which stands directly behind the ship's helm. Upon reaching the New World, they updated the large Log Pose to the appropriate New World version, which is similar to Nami's new Log Pose, with three needles installed instead of only one.
The anchors of the Thousand Sunny are positioned at each side of the front of the ship and resemble large lion paws, each with three toes. The ropes used to raise and lower them are stored inside the metal ring positioned behind the figurehead. In the anime, post-timeskip, the ship was shown to be able to fire both its anchors like grappling hooks.
Recently, the figurehead has shown some anthropomorphic expressions, much like the Going Merry's did. The lion made a dizzy face in the manga when the Straw Hats got caught in a White Strom[10] and, in the anime, a panicked face when they were surrounded by Sea Kings during their descent to Fish-Man Island, and again, when the ship caught on fire because Luffy forgot to turn off the stove, and during the ensuing chaos, the figurehead got a sweat drop. During the arrival at Wano Country, it had a panicked face when Luffy voiced his intention to leave it behind.[
The men's quarters are located on the first floor of the fore of the ship, while the women's quarters are located above them on the second floor.
The men's quarters can be entered from either door on the first floor. In the middle of the room is a horigotatsu type kotatsu, a traditional Japanese fireplace setting, complete with a sunken table and low sofas. Suspended from the ceiling like wooden hammocks are three double-decker bunks, which the men sleep in. Behind these bunks, at the back of the room, are six lockers where the men can store their clothes. Posted on the wall of the room is a collection of the men's wanted posters; however, because of his ongoing problem with getting photographed properly, Sanji's poster is not included. A hatch in the men's quarters leads down into a storage room below deck.
The women's quarters can be entered through the door on the second floor. Unlike the men's quarters, which looks more typical for a ship, the women's quarters resemble more like a bedroom that one would normally see on land. It contains two beds, a bookshelf, a four-door closet, a vanity with a mirror, and some comfy sofas, among other things. A treasure chest belonging to Nami can be found behind the beds. Since the timeskip, the two beds have been replaced by a single king-sized bed.
At the entrance to each room is a washroom. The room by the men's quarters' entrance is a typical household washroom setup. It contains a regular sink and some toothbrushes. The only other unique feature in this room is a bell to wake everyone up in case of emergencies or other important situations. The washroom by the women's quarters entrance is somewhat more elaborate. It contains a closet where wine and a tea set can be stored. While cold, fresh water for both washrooms is provided by internal pumps and filters, hot water for the tea set must be retrieved from the kitchen. There is also a door at both sides of each bedroom which leads to a narrow space containing a cannon. In the 11th movie's depiction, the leftmost door in the women's quarters is not shown.
In front of these rooms, on the lawned deck, is a hatch leading to the room where the Soldier Dock System is stored. Toilets are located outside, under the stairwells that circle the foremast.
The kitchen, dining room and sick bay are located on the second floor near the stern of the ship.
The combined kitchen and dining room of the ship resembles a restaurant, with the two areas separated by a bar. The kitchen has a professional setup and cooking equipment, including a giant oven that can bake anything and a giant fridge with a lock, something Sanji has requested many times in order to stop people (mainly Luffy) from stealing food. The fridge lock is secured by a four-digit code, "7326", which is known only to Sanji, Nami, and Robin. The code is a combination of their names. 7 and 3 can be pronounced as "na" and "mi" respectively in Japanese and thus refer to Nami. Likewise, 2 and 6 can be pronounced as "ni" and "ro" respectively and thus refer to the two first syllables of Nico Robin's full name. 3 and 2 can also be pronounced as "san" and "ji" and thus refer to Sanji. A pantry used to store dry goods can be accessed by a door adjacent to the fridge and by a door outside; to discourage Luffy from raiding the supplies here, only raw, unprocessed groceries are kept inside. Next to the kitchen is the main mast of the ship; built within it is a dumbwaiter that can be used to deliver food to the aquarium bar below. The area also contains a ladder that leads to a hatch giving access to the observation deck above. A Den Den Mushi can also be found near the couch in the dining room.
Unlike the Going Merry, the Thousand Sunny has a sick bay. It can be accessed from both the dining room and the outside of the ship. The room contains various medical supplies and furniture, including a desk, a bed, and Chopper's favorite swivel chair. It is generally used to treat any wounds the Straw Hats might receive. When not in use, it can serve as a passageway to the back of the ship. During the room's first appearance, without any patients to cure, Chopper was seen relaxing in the sick bay. As the ship's doctor, Chopper considers the sick bay his own personal room. He also keeps his signature from Sogeking hanging up on the wall, even though it was just Usopp wearing a disguise, choosing to keep it anyway as a memento from his adventures and a gift from his friend - or because he never actually found out Usopp was indeed Sogeking.
This room provides great place for storing live fish (to eat later) and has glass walls that allow the aquarium to be viewed from the adjacent lounge. The aquarium surrounds the whole room and functions as a ceiling for a passageway behind it. To take a fish out of the aquarium for food, one must net the fish from the hatch on the second-floor deck. If that does not work, they will just have to dive in and grab it themselves.
In the middle of the room is the main mast of the ship, which contains a small cupboard for storing alcohol and a dumbwaiter connecting to the kitchen above. Due to the room's atmosphere, Franky says it is a good place to eat dinner. When the aquarium was first shown in use, Luffy and Usopp foolishly put a shark in, and it unfortunately devoured all the other fish in the tank.
The energy room of the Thousand Sunny can be entered through a ladder at the back of this room.
The large hut-like structure at the stern of the ship contains the bath and library. At each side of this building is a large lamp. The library, comprising the lower level of the structure, is a large circular room with numerous bookshelves and windows and a bench encircling the whole room. Everyone but Luffy has books stored here. In the middle of the room is Nami's mapping desk, which contains the Ship's Log, among other things. Toward the port side is a ladder leading up to the bath. The library, according to Nami, is "the brain of the Sunny."
Above the library, located in the attic-like section of the building, is the bath. From the ladder in the library, one enters a front washroom with an accessible toilet before passing through a door into the actual bath. It contains a much larger bathtub than there was on the Merry. In Nami's words, taking a bath there while the ship gently rocks has the feel of a high-end spa.
On top of the foremast is the crow's nest. It is a dome-shaped hut with several windows on its perimeter. It can be entered by climbing up the ropes surrounding the mast and then climbing a ladder up through a hole in the nest's metal floor. It contains some advanced telescopic equipment and a microphone. The microphone is connected to a loudspeaker located below the crow's nest to the rear, enabling anyone inside to quickly relay news to the crew below. The crow's nest can also function as a gym, containing exercising equipment such as dumbbells and giving ample room so that even someone of Zoro's level can train effectively. Like the library, the crow's nest also features a bench around the edge.
On top of the kitchen and dining hall of the Thousand Sunny is the observation deck. It can be accessed by going through a hatch from the kitchen below, and it gives access to the library. Much like the top deck of the Going Merry, it contains Nami's mikan trees and Robin's flower garden. It also has the chimney for the kitchen below, the branch office of Usopp's Factory, and, since the time skip, Usopp's Pop Green garden.
Below the deck, and to the aft of the Soldier Dock System, are the two rooms devoted to research and development: Usopp's Main Factory and Franky's Weapon Development Room. Both are complete with drawing boards and tools for the creation of blueprints and contraptions for the Straw Hats' use in the near future. Both can be accessed by climbing down the stairs leading from the Energy Room.
The Soldier Dock System (ソルジャードックシステム, Sorujā Dokku Shisutemu?) is a special system built within the ship and represented externally by two giant numbered plates, one on either side of the ship. It is a turntable comprised of six compartments that each contains a special device or vehicle for the Straw Hats' use. It is named Soldier Dock System because the vehicles stored within are, as Franky calls them, the soldiers of the Thousand Sunny.
Before the timeskip, it includes Channel Zero which consist of two parallal compartments containing paddle wheels that change the ship into Paddle-Wheel Sunny. It was powered by cola. The wheels could rotate in reverse and function independently of one another. With these wheels, the Thousand Sunny's heading could be changed easily. This was first seen being used in the manga when Franky used it in order to pass a raging storm. In the anime, it was first seen being used to escape from the illusion of a Marine fleet. After the timeskip, the paddle wheels were removed to make room for Channels Five and Six. In their place, the Rabbit Screw was added.