Captain Hume, of His Majesty's Ship, the Scarborough
The term Captain is given to the senior ranking member of a ship. With the exception of pirate vessels, Captains hold compete rule and authority of the ship. They ranked above commander and lieutenant and below commodore.
"Captain" is also a rank in the British Army. It is junior to the naval rank of captain.
For most ships, the captain is responsible for the safety, maintenance and security of the ship, its cargo and its crews and passengers. While the captain may have people in charge of overseeing these things, it is normally the captain who is held responsible should anything happen.
Obtaining the Title[]
Becoming Captain differed between pirate and normal society. For pirates, the ship was owned by the crew, and the Captain could rise through the ranks by gaining support from the crew. If a Captain was killed or removed from rank, the crew would vote a new captain in. This person could be virtually anyone, but the Quartermaster was often seen as the next in line.
Theoretically, the highest commands of theRoyal Navy were open to all within its ranks showing talent. In practice, family connections, political or professional patronage were very important for promotion to ranks higher than Captain or Commander.
A person may be appointed an acting captain and given temporary command of a vessel. This can be for a variety of reasons, such as the incapacitation of the actual captain or if crew members are transferred to manage a prize ship.
History[]
Season One[]
Captain Francis Hume of the Royal Navy is sent from Boston to the Bahamas in order to deal with the pirates.
Singleton challenges Captain Flint for the captaincy of the Walrus. In turn, Flint accuses Singleton of stealing the page with the schedule of the Urca de Lima. The two duel, and ultimately Flint prevails.
Hal Gates, the quartermaster of the Walrus, approaches Benjamin Hornigold, captain of the Royal Lion and Steward of Fort Nassau to to ask him to grant Gates temporary captaincy over his ship and a portion of his crew to serve as consort during the hunt for the Urca. After being approached by Jack Rackham, he instead decides to support having Vane and the Ranger serve as consort instead.
After learning of their cruel and abusive treatment of Max, Eleanor Guthrie orders the crew of the Ranger to vote to depose Captain Charles Vane and to join the crew of Captain Flint and grant him use of their ship during the hunt for the Urca.
Vane travels to the Baymens' Island and confronts his former master, Albinus, who had been the captain of a large and feared pirate crew before retiring and starting a timber business. Albinus used his former crew as lumberjacks and foremen, in addition to relying on slave labor. At first, Vane negotiates with Albinus to temporarily grant him command of 12 men in exchange for giving Albinus a share of their plunder. However, he ends up challenging Albinus for command of the crew, and ends up killing him, taking command over all 40 members of the crew.
During the final voyage to hunt the Urca, they find its purported location empty, and soon a Spanish Man O' War is spotted. Flint wants to fight the warship, believing it to be a last minute escort for the Urca, while Gates believes that it's too dangerous. He then reveals that he is part of a plot to mutiny against Flint and kill him. Flint kills Gates, and tells the crew that he had a heart attack, and orders that the Ranger be signaled and Thompson be given command.
Season Two[]
After the Battle in Division Bay ends in disaster, Flint is deposed and Dufresne takes over as acting captain. Flint, in order to receive a pardon from his crew, hatches a successful plan to take the Spanish Man O' War. In order to regain his captaincy, he baits Dufresne into trying to take a prize in the crew's depleted state, and when things go south, Flint steps up and orders the crew to sink their intended prize, lest they escape and spread word of the crew's weakness. After the battle, Flint is reelected.
Jack Rackham plots to become a captain by recruiting men with the lure of having unique access to Eleanor Guthrie's leads that are leaked in the Inn to Max's prostitutes. His efforts fail, as he is still branded as a crew killer by Charles Vane. When Vane removes it, Jack and Max plot to have Idelle seduce Augustus Featherstone, the Ship's Master of the Colonial Dawn, and have him convince his crew to elect Rackham. The scheme works, and Rackham is elected captain and given command of their ship.
Notable Captains[]
Pirate[]
- Captain James Flint of the Walrus.
- Captain Benjamin Hornigold of the Royal Lion.
- Captain Charles Vane of the Ranger.
- Captain Ned Low of the Fancy.
- Captain Jack Rackham of the Colonial Dawn.
- Captain Edward "Blackbeard" Teach of the Revenge.
Civilian[]
- Captain Dyfed Bryson of the Andromache.
- Captain Parrish, of Parrish's Ship
- Captain Jefferson, of the Good Fortune
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- Captain Francis Hume, of His Majesty's Ship, the Scarborough