02-15-2010, 06:26 AM | #21 | |
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: Crewing a ship in the Age of Sail
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A cook's warrant was often something of a misericorde, given to the more fortunate amongst disabled seamen - hence the common image of a peg-legged cook. Skill in cooking was not a pre-requisite, and the work had a distinctly industrial quality to it by most accounts.Cook's mate was also a light duties role, frequently given to members of the afterguard who were unfit for other duties due to age, injury or other infirmity. The people aboard most likely to be actually able to cook would be the Captain's Steward and the Wardroom Steward, if only because a captain and 1st lieutenant who valued their stomachs would likely scour the crew for someone competent. Some captains even rated themselves a seperate cook. To the Navy a quatermaster was part of the Master's crew and thus concerned with sailing and navigation. I vaguely recall something about that pirate thing myself - wasn't the pirate quatermaster in charge of the ship and the captain the leader of the crew or something? With the Quatermaster representing the interest of the owner(s) if the ship was a privateer rather than an out and out criminal enterprise? |
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02-15-2010, 06:42 AM | #22 | |
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Augsburg, Germany
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Re: Crewing a ship in the Age of Sail
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Edit - althought the Squire was also apparently a very good shot - great roleplaying material! Last edited by trans; 02-15-2010 at 06:47 AM. |
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02-15-2010, 07:12 AM | #23 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: in your pocket, stealing all your change
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Re: Crewing a ship in the Age of Sail
I'll add my support for Anaraxes post, which I think is one of the more useful of this thread (the "your question was too broad" discussion is pretty silly, isn't it? by now I'm sure you understand what's being asked, the initial query has been specified, drop it).
From what I remember of the research I did for my campaign, his numbers are more or less on the spot. Skeleton crews were very small, but you could have more than 3 people per gun, a lot of people operating the rig to ensure quick response to the winds, etc... By the way, the Pirates of the Caribbean game has more or less accurate numbers for crew, I discovered... so you can get a lot from there (or wait until Wednesday and I'll post some). In case there's any doubt, I'll clear up the question once more... What are the crew requirements for ships of the age of sail (as many as you can list), preferably detailed in minimum, usual and maximum? For example, how many people to crew a sloop? how many people to crew a merchantman? how many people to crew a frigate? Etc. |
02-15-2010, 07:28 AM | #24 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Crewing a ship in the Age of Sail
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Bill Stoddard |
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02-15-2010, 07:43 AM | #25 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: The Great White North
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Re: Crewing a ship in the Age of Sail
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02-15-2010, 09:03 AM | #26 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Crewing a ship in the Age of Sail
I don't see how "hired the crew" can be accurate. A pirate ship did not have an owner. It was in effect a joint stock company, a cooperative venture in which the crew members had shares. Pirate crews were not employees.
Bill Stoddard |
02-15-2010, 09:52 AM | #27 |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: The Great White North
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Re: Crewing a ship in the Age of Sail
Perhaps a better phrase would be "recruited the crew". Pirate ships did have owners. Either someone bought it from a shipyard or it was a prize, in which case, it belonged to the "joint stock company" that brought it in. If the crew had mutinied, it would be their prize.
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02-15-2010, 10:30 AM | #28 |
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Re: Crewing a ship in the Age of Sail
Rather depends on the crew I think ... some of the more famous 'pirates' were in fact privateers sailing on a joint stock basis and their crews were hired and paid. More usually the privateers and pirates sailed for a division of spoils rather than a fixed salary, but even then someone had to recruit them and sign them up to "the articles" (effectively the membership contract).
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02-15-2010, 04:55 PM | #29 | |
Icelandic - Approach With Caution
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Reykjavík, Iceland
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Re: Crewing a ship in the Age of Sail
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But anyway, Anaraxes' numbers look good. One must bear in mind that the ships almost never had the full complement. Sometimes they just couldn't find the men, and sometimes men were sent into other ships as prize crew. I am guessing the prize crews were something between 10 and 30 men, depending on the size of the ship seized and what condition it was in. The prize crews were under the command of an officer (midshipmen count as officers) and had the task of getting the ship to a friendly harbor, and the captain of the ship the crew was from informed the officer of the prize crew what port to steer for, there's a scene like this in Midshipman Hornblower, where Hornblower is put in command of a captured ship by Pellew. Good skills to have for sailors? Though not all sailors need all the skills below. Climbing. Seamanship. Shiphandling. Knot Tying. Navigation (Sea). Carpentry. Sewing. |
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02-15-2010, 07:08 PM | #30 |
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Vermont
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Re: Crewing a ship in the Age of Sail
Would the Quartermaster's primary Job skills be Administration and Leadership, or is this better represented by a Professional skill?
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age of sail, pirate, ships, swashbucklers |
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