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01:04 PM

Could I be the Quartermaster?

Quote:

The Quartermaster, depending on the circumstances and the pirare ship was the second in command. His main purpose was to distribute things. He distributed, rations, powder, work, prize, and punishment.

Pirate didn't trust authority and therefore saw no reason to let all the power of a ship rest on one man. Therefore they split the power between, the Captain, who led the ship in battle, and navigated the ship, and the Quartermaster, who usually led the way on any boarding party, and kept custody of all prize or booty. The Quartermaster also determined what prize was worth taking.

As expected all gold, silver, or coin was taken, but beyond that, it was the quartermaster who decided what else was worth taking. He made his decisions based on time on how much room the ship had. If the ship was already cramped, spices and exotic materials may be burned rather that stolen.

The quartermaster would also watch over the treasure until it was divided among the crew. It was also the quartermaster who did the dividing, with the crew's supervision. There was rarely a dispute about how the loot was divided, however.

The quartermaster was also the only man who could dole out punishment. Even then, any many instances the crew would take a vote first. The captain could order punishment but only the quartermaster could administer it, which made it the will of at least two before any punishment was given.

The quartermaster also settled individual quarrels and if need be, acted as a witness to any duels, to insure that duels were fair and just. Finally, on some ships, except when in battle the quartermaster might actually hold a position above the captain, especially in matters of punishment and rations.

Despite all the activitiy of the quartermaster, Pirate captains would still pick their other officers such as first and second mate, often creating a complex chain of command on a pirate ship.

Of course this was not always the case. In many cases, a pirate captain was the ultimate law and there was no quatermaster or the quartermaster and captain worked as if captain and firstmate. Much of the discussion of quatermasters is found in the General History of Pirates and it would be foolish to think all pirate crews had a division of power as it described in that book.