This paper will look at three manuscripts from the collections of the British Library and the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin to explore the various ways sailing-ships and characters that play a role in the stories are portrayed. Also some attention will be paid to the combinations we find of ships, other illustrated elements, and the wayang-like figures in the illustrations. The manuscripts we are concerned with in this contribution are Serat Selarasa, British Library MSS Jav. 28, Serat Damar Wulan, British Library MSS Jav. 89, and Serat Panji Jaya Kusuma, Berlin Ms. or. quart. 2112. Below some illustrations will be presented and commented upon. We will see that manuscripts may have been produced in various ways. However, at present due to lack of detailed studies of illustrated Javanese manuscripts no definitive answers can be given to many questions about Javanese manuscript production in the past.