The Captain, in the first place, is lord paramount. He stands no watch, comes and goes when he pleases, is accountable to no one, and must be obeyed in everything, without a question from his chief officers.
Richard Henry Dana
Two Years Before the Mast (1840)
Captain Lambert,
ReplyDeleteI see nothing wrong with what the Captains privileges are, but Richard Henry Dana failed to point out that the Captain is responsible for the ship and its safety, not a small task in seas of any size and a formidable task in rough and violent seas, the chance of a pirate vessel or enemy of one’s country crossing your course was fairly high in those days, it was also the responsibility of the Captain to train his crew to fight the ship with the capabilities that the ship had, many an unqualified Captain has lost or given up his ship and crew. The good Captain uses his Officers best asset’s to assist him in carrying out his responsibilities. Years ago there were probably many tyrants that served as Ship’s Masters, that is the way the world worked and not all hands were treated with proper Marine Justice, but Sailors knew of the ways that the crew members were treated and it did not take long on any ship for the word to spread through that ship and from port to port about which Captain was a good and fair Captain and which was not.
Very Respectfully,
Navyman834