Pirate Ranks
Many books and websites try to list and describe
the various ranks on a pirate ship, but many of them contain very basic and misleading
errors. Since so many copy from one another the errors are expanded and built
upon until the truth is lost. Here is my own modest addition to the melting
pot, but it is drawn not from other websites or books but from original 17th
and 18th century writings.
Captain:
It has often been said that pirates were one of the
first true democracies, in that they elected their captains, and often other
officers as well. It must be stated that though there are several examples of
pirates being voted into and out of power this was not always the case by any
means.
Whether he commanded by election or imposition the
pirate captain was the supreme commander aboard his ship. The men sailed where
he told them to, fought when and whom he told them to and on the whole were
ruled by him. For the elected captain his position was a precarious one, his
men would obey him as long as he kept making sensible orders and brought them
success, if he failed they would vote him out of office and elect another in
his place. For the captain who ruled by force the position was equally
precarious, if he failed to lead them successfully he faced mutiny and murder.
Lieutenant:
It is often stated that the ship's quartermaster
was the second in command. I will address the question of quartermaster later.
On larger pirate ships the second in command was the lieutenant. Johnson tells
us that Avery, Roberts, Gow and Lowther all had lieutenants (Roberts'
lieutenant, Kennedy, and Lowther's lieutenant, Low later became captains in
their own right). Lieutenants are also mentioned in proclamations of 1717 and
1718.
Warships of the Royal Navy had a varying number of
lieutenants depending on the size of vessel, from 3 in a first or second rate
ship in 1686 to 1 in a sixth rate. It seems very unlikely that any pirate
vessel was large enough to warrant more than one lieutenant, but in Johnson's
story of Captain Mission mention is made of second and third lieutenants.
Although the story of Mission is fictional Johnson intended it to be believed by
his readers, and wrote it as if it were fact, so we cannot dismiss the
background it provides entirely. However, I've not been able to find any record
of an actual pirate ship with more than one lieutenant.
The duties of the lieutenant were more or less to
act as the captain's deputy. He commanded in the captain's absence, often took
command of prizes, and during battle should have positioned himself in the
forecastle while the captain was on the quarter- or poop-deck.
Master:
The master of any ship was in charge of navigation
and the actual business of sailing the vessel. In matters of seamanship the
master should have been obeyed entirely. In the 17th century Butler described
the duties of the master thus: "to undertake the conduction of [a ship] to
the places and ports whither she is bound, and to shape all courses as may best
conduce thereunto;... He is to enquire and take account of all the ways that
the ship hath made and upon what points of the compass she hath been steered in
every watch; and to this end he is to take a view of the traverse board, and to
consider of all the dead reckonings. And by his observations, to take the
height of the sun or star, or both, with his astrolabe, backstaff, Jacob staff
or quadrant, and accordingly prick his cart [chart, or sea card]."
A number of pirate vessels had masters, for example
Israel Hands was Blackbeard's master, and masters are mentioned in both the
1717 and 1718 proclamations. On vessels too small to have both a captain and
master the same man did both jobs, thus in some cases the term
"master" is interchangeable with "captain".
Boatswain:
The boatswain (or bosun) was one of the most
important men aboard any sailing vessel. He was responsible for "...all
the ropes in general belonging to the ship: with all her cables, anchors, and
sails; her flags, colours and pendants...". He was also responsible for
making sure every man was correctly on watch and at his station. During battle
it was a small group of the best seamen under the command of the boatswain and
his mates (if he had any) who saw to the sailing of the ship while most of the
crew worked the cannons. On many ships the boatswain was also responsible for
discipline. In some ships the boatswain also took on the duties of master
gunner.
Boatswains are listed as pirate officers in both
proclamations of 1717 and 1718, and are listed in the articles of Roberts,
Lowther and Phillips, in each case receiving one share and a quarter. There are
several references to pirate boatswains in various sources of the period, and
in Johnson's General History there are at least two mentions of boatswain's
whistles, their method of communicating orders to men aloft as well as being a
badge of office. It is unlikely that many pirate vessels had boatswain's mates
aboard (in the Royal Navy only sixth rates and larger carried boatswain's
mates), but we do know that Benjamin Jeffreys was boatswain's mate aboard
Roberts' ship.
Gunner:
The gunner's duties included taking charge of all
the ship's cannon, ensuring they were properly maintained and that the crews
were trained in their use. He was responsible for ensuring all the gun ports
were closed in bad weather and for making sure all guns were secured. In battle
the gunner would often be near the helm, advising the helmsman on how to steer
so as to be able to aim the ship's artillery better.
According to the articles of Roberts, Lowther and
Phillips, the gunner was to receive one and a quarter shares in the division of
spoils, and he is mentioned with other officer in the 1717 proclamation. It is
possible that Blackbeard's gunner Philip Morton may have been higher ranking
than the boatswain, but in general the gunner and boatswain were about level in
the chain of command, each to his own province. It has already been noted that
in some small vessels the duties of gunner and boatswain were shared by the
same man.
Carpenter:
The carpenter was an officer responsible for the
maintenance of the ship below the deck level (including the hull, decks,
bulkheads etc), in the same way that the boatswain was responsible for
everything above the deck. He was responsible for replacing damaged or worn
masts and yards, repairing or replacing the rudder or any other timber which
needed it and for stopping leaks. Carpenters were usually experienced seamen as
well as tradesmen, and often enjoyed a similar rank to boatswains.
Mates:
A mate aboard a sailing vessel could be anything
since many officers had "mates", but unless it is otherwise specified
usually meant "Master's mate". Master's mates were similar in rank to
boatswains, sometimes above and sometimes below them. If a ship had no seperate
master, only a captain/master then the term "mate" was often used to
mean second in command (still literally the master's mate) instead of a
lieutenant.
Royal Navy ships often had more than one
mate(ranking lower than a boatswain), depending on size, but I have found no
record of a pirate vessel with two or more master's mates, and many were not
even big enough to warrant even one.
Quartermaster:
More incorrect information has been written about
quartermasters than any other rank on pirate ships. Countless websites and
books state quite clearly that the quartermaster was the second in command of
pirate ships, answerable only to the captain. We have seen that there were a
number of officers who ranked between the captain and quartermaster in terms of
command, and this false idea seems to come principally from information in
Johnson's General History about the quartermaster of Roberts' crew.
" For the Punishment of small Offences,
which are not provided for by the Articles, and which are not of Consequence
enough to be left to a Jury, there is a principal Officer among the Pyrates,
called the Quarter-Master, of the Mens own chusing, who claims all Authority
this Way, (excepting in Time of Battle:) If they disobey his Command, are
quarrelsome and mutinous with one another, misuse Prisoners, plunder beyond his
Order, and in particular, if they be negligent of their Arms, which he musters
at Discretion, he punishes at his own Arbitrement, with drubbing or whipping,
which no one else dare do without incurring the Lash from all the Ships
Company: In short, this Officer is Trustee for the whole, is the first on Board
any Prize, separating for the Company's Use, what he pleases, and returning
what he thinks fit to the Owners, excepting Gold and Silver, which they have
voted not returnable."
In this paragraph, and in Roberts' articles (in
which the quartermaster receives the same share of spoils as the captain) it is
shown that the quartermaster of a pirate ship held more importance than a
quartermaster of any other ship, wherein he was a low ranking petty officer -
well below the boatswain, gunner, mates and carpenter. However, most of the
evidence for the quartermasters of pirate ships being more important than other
officers comes from the descriptions of Roberts' crew, and I believe that
Roberts' crew was exceptional in this respect - possibly because of the sheer
number of men serving under him.
First, let us look at the normal duties of
quartermasters on merchant and naval ships. According to Monson writing in the
17th century the quartermasters "are four, and every one has his mate;
they have the charge of the hold for stowage, rumaging and trimming the ship in
hold. They have their squadron in the watch, and see that every one do his
office both by day and night: they have a care to look to the steerage and the
traverse board." Butler adds that the quartermasters are also to
"accompany and overlook the steward when he delivers out the victuals to
the cook and when he serves and pumps the beer". Monson asserts that there
were four quartermasters, while Butler says it depends on the size of the ship,
in a sense both are correct; in Monson's time only the smallest ships carried
fewer than four quartermasters, by 1686 though this had changed and ships
carried between 1 and 8 depending on their size. The smallest vessels, yachts
and sloops (which equate to the kind of ship most commonly used by pirates) carried
either one or none at all.
There is plenty of evidence to suggest that aboard most
pirate vessels the quartermaster was similarly ranked to his namesake on naval
vessels. For example, at Rackham's trial only 3 officers are listed, and the
last of these is Richard Corner, the quartermaster. No special reward is
offered in the 1717 proclamation for the capture of quartermasters unless they
are considered "inferior officers", certainly no mention of them is
made specifically. In the list of officers killed with Blackbeard the
quartermaster is the last mentioned
Neither Lowther's nor Phillips' articles make any
mention of giving extra shares to the quartermaster, though other officers
receive extra. Lowther's articles mention the quartermaster elsewhere,
assigning him extra duties, so we know that there was one, but that he was not
important enough to warrant extra spoil. According to Phillip Ashton's account
Low had at least two quartermasters, so we must assume that they occupied the
normal quartermaster's position, since there cannot have been two seconds in
command.
By far the majority of the evidence concerning the
quartermaster's abnormal position on a pirate ship relates to the crew of Bart
Roberts, so as I have stated I believe that his quartermaster held a unique
position. However, even on Roberts' ship the evidence suggests that the
quartermaster had extra duties of a civil nature, with regard to discipline and
the division of spoils etc., rather than actual command. There is a certain
amount of evidence (almost all of it from Johnson) that some quartermasters
held a brief as a kind of representative of the crew, acting on their behalf in
negotiations, speaking for them and suchlike. This translated into a certain
amount of power, because without the assent of the crew the captain could do
nothing, but this power was not the quartermaster's own to wield as he pleased,
and nor did it exist unless the crew had a dispute with the captain.
Pirate quartermasters often had more duties than
their counterparts in merchant or naval vessels, and perhaps enjoyed more
popularity with the crew. Where there is evidence of quartermasters having more
power than one would expect it is in the nature of their being a representative
of the will of the crew - it is not the quartermaster with the extra power, it
is the crew themselves with the quartermaster speaking on their behalf.
However, in general they did not out rank any other officers, nor did they have
any real power or importance except under a very weak captain. They certainly
were not second in command.
Other miscellaneous:
Aboard any sailing vessel there might be any number
of officers with their own particular duties, their number depending on the
size of vessel. There is evidence of the following "officers" on one
or more pirate ship:
Pilot: an officer partly responsible for
navigation, particularly in shore navigation. Sometimes the pilot was a
permanent officer on the ship, but often was just hired (or pressed) for a
particular piece of coast or harbour.
Coxswain: a junior officer with duties similar to
the boatswain. He was also in charge of the second largest of the ship's boats.
Sailmaker: not only was this man responsible for
mending the ship's sails, but he also had charge of making and repairing flags,
and often making slop clothing for the men.
Doctor: very few pirate ships probably had doctors
or surgeons aboard. On those that did, he was responsible not only for the
treatment of injuries but for seeing to the general health of the crew.
Although we know that a number of surgeons volunteered to accompany the
buccaneering expeditions of the late 17th century it is probably that most
doctors aboard pirate ships of the Golden Age were pressed men, forced to join
when their own ship was captured.
Table of Payment:
One of the easiest ways of comparing the rank or
station of different officers on board different pirate ships might be to
compare the different shares of prizes they received. I have included in this
table the shares accorded to officers in the articles of Roberts, Lowther and
Phillips, and the shares given to privateer officers of the 17th century
according to Monson. By way of comparison I have also included the amount
officers listed would have been paid per month had they served in a Royal Navy
sloop in 1700. I have not included all the ranks listed in Monson or the Navy
pay lists, only those ranks which also appear in pirate articles.
|
Rank |
Roberts |
Lowther |
Phillips |
Monson |
Royal Navy |
|
Captain |
2 shares |
2 shares |
11/2 shares |
10 shares |
�8, 8s |
|
Master |
11/2 shares |
11/2 shares |
11/4 shares |
7 or 8 shares |
�4 |
|
Boatswain |
11/2 shares |
11/4 shares |
11/4 shares |
5 shares |
�2 |
|
Gunner |
11/2 shares |
11/4 shares |
11/4 shares |
5 shares |
�2 |
|
Quartermaster |
2 shares |
|
|
4 shares |
�1, 6s |
|
Carpenter |
|
|
11/4 shares |
5 shares |
�2 |
|
Mate |
|
11/4 shares |
|
5 shares |
�2, 2s |
|
Doctor |
|
11/4 shares |
|
5 shares |
�5 + 2d per man aboard. |
|
"Other Officers" |
11/4 shares |
|
|
Various rates |
|