Ship Mates

Jolly Rogers Crew:

 * Captain-Jolly Roger
 * First Mate-Boomer Expo
 * Quartermaster-
 * Sailing Master-
 * Master Gunner-
 * Gunner-
 * Powder Monkey-
 * Boatswain-
 * Surgeons-
 * Cooks-

Captain
When a captain was voted it was mostly on respect,courage,skill,commanding and navigating. The captain had as much right as a crew member. Even things as sail courses were determined by vote!

First Mate
First Mate had rank just below the Captain. He would take control when the captain couldn't.

Quartermaster
The Quartermaster was the overseer of the ship when the captain was out. He had the right to punish someone if they got out of line. Quartermaster was also in charge of food and water supplies.

Sailing Master
Sailing Masters were officers that were offten called "The Navigator". They were in charge of navigation and piloting. It wasn't an easy job, because charts in those days were usually inaccurate. Many sailing masters were forced to join the pirates.

Gunner
Gunners were leaders of small man groups, who operated on the artillery. They watched for safety of their man and usually aimed the cannons themselves.

Gunners are usually in small packs, they always looked after each. They aimed the cannons them selfs.

It was hard to become a gunner because pirates rarely wanted to destroy other ships, instead they tried to disable them. On top of that 4 to 6 men aim, fire, reset, swab and load.

To prevent commotion and random fire, the most experienced gunner was usually elected Master Gunner.

Powder Monkey
Powder Monkey is British naval term used for young men who assisted gun crews. These boys, usually no older than 12-13 years, were forced to perform most dangerous work on a ship. They were treated harshly, rarely paid and were expandable. Powder Monkeys had little hope of promotion, were often deserting.

Boatswain
Boatswains were junior officers. They were people who supervised all activities on a ship. Depending on the size of the ship and crew, they could have one or several duties. Duties ranged from anchoring to naval provisions. They reported to the Quartermaster or the Captain.

Surgeons
The pirate ships usually did not have surgeons aboard. Those that had them, probably pressed surgeons into service. From surgeons, crew expected, to help them with diseases and wounds. Without proper medicines, every wound could become source of infection, so amputations were often necessary in order save patient's life.

If ship did not have surgeon, in cases of amputation, carpenter would usually take his place. He was the first choice, because he had necessary tools and knowledge in “cutting”. In rare cases, cook would take place of a surgeon. However, cooks usually were not butchers, they were just crewmembers whose assignment was food preparing.

Cooks
Pirate ships did not have professional cooks. Usually just ordinary crewmember was in charge of food making.