Pirate Crew Positions & Ranks — The Pirate Ship Crew
N.C. Wyeth, 1921. Public domain.
Life Magazine cover.
What made the pirate crew of the Golden Age of Piracy unlike any other seafaring organization was democracy. While naval sailors lived under the iron rule of appointed officers, a pirate ship crew elected their own captain, chose their own quartermaster, and governed themselves by a written pirate code — the Articles of Agreement that every crew member signed before setting sail. Pirate ranks were real positions with defined responsibilities, and failure to perform them could mean being voted out or put ashore. The result was one of the most surprisingly egalitarian institutions of the 17th and 18th centuries.
A pirate ship crew could include hard-core pirates who had sailed since youth, recently unemployed merchant or naval sailors, and others forced into service against their will. The pirate crew size varied based on the ship, the success of their raiding, and how well they could fight. Below are the key pirate crew names and positions found aboard a typical Golden Age pirate vessel.
Pirate Captain
A General History of the Pyrates
Charles Johnson, c.1728. Public domain.
The background of many pirates was as a sailor in one of the European navies, and from their service under autocratic commanders, they developed a strong hatred of that incompetent and abusive style.
A pirate captain had to be cut from a different mold. Previous experience had taught most crew members that life at sea was harsh enough without an inexperienced or cruel leader making it worse. He was elected as a sort of president of a shaky pirate democracy — someone already respected for their leadership and navigation skills, level-headed and decisive with the pirate crew in the heat of battle.
It was during engagements that this pirate of pirates would be expected to rise above and bring victory, but in most other situations aboard ship, he was more or less another voting member of the pirate crew, delegating everyday tasks to the quartermaster or other officers. This father figure could be voted out and even thrown off if he became passive or wavering, went against the majority vote, became too brutal, or simply no longer performed his duties to the liking of the pirate ship crew.
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Pirate First Mate
A pirate crew sometimes had this position as the captain’s right-hand man — the one who would assume command if the captain were killed in battle or could no longer perform his duties. This was often considered the equivalent of a lieutenant in a regular navy, and most pirate crews chose to assign that power to a quartermaster instead.
Pirate Quartermaster
Out of their distrust of dictatorial rule, pirates of the Golden Age placed a large portion of the captain’s traditional power into the hands of an elected pirate quartermaster — second-in-command and almost a co-captain, representing the best interests of the pirate crew.
Howard Pyle, 1905. Public domain.
Delaware Art Museum.
As foreman of the pirate ship crew, the quartermaster maintained order, distributed rations and supplies, delegated work, and guarded and divided plunder. In combat, he decided which ships were worth attacking and often led any boarding party, ultimately choosing what loot to keep. When discipline was necessary, only he could administer it — and even then only with the agreement of the captain or a vote of the pirate crew.
In the most serious situations, he served as sheriff or judge in disputes and trials among the crew. For all his hard work, the pirate quartermaster received a larger share of any plunder and would often be asked to command any prize ship taken in battle. Pirate democracy placed enormous trust in this rank — arguably the most important position aboard a Golden Age pirate ship.
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Pirate Boatswain (Bos’n)
Comparable to a modern chief petty officer, the pirate boatswain oversaw several junior officers who shared responsibility for crew morale, work efficiency, and the maintenance and repair of the hull, rigging, lines, cables, sails, and anchors. On a large pirate ship, the boatswain’s role was essential to keeping the vessel seaworthy between raids.
Pirate Gunner
R.M. Ballantyne, 1874. Public domain.
The Pirate City.
The pirate gunner led the crew manning the artillery. His specialty was aiming, but he oversaw the four to six men required to take each cannon through the steps of loading, aiming, firing, resetting, and swabbing for the next shot. He also ensured the gun crew's safety against dangerous overheating or excessive recoil. A master gunner coordinated the timing and accuracy of individual gun crews — especially critical when a broadside was ordered. In battle, losing a gunner mid-engagement was a serious blow — his knowledge of powder charges, elevation, and timing was not easily replaced by a common sailor pressed into service at the cannon. The best gunners were so valued that they were often among the highest-paid specialists aboard, second only to the surgeon, and were frequently recruited — willingly or otherwise — from captured naval or merchant vessels. A pirate crew with a skilled gunner could disable a prize ship cleanly and quickly; without one, a botched broadside could sink the very cargo they had come to take.
Powder Monkey
This term was first used in the British Navy for the very young men who made up most gun crews in the 17th century. Unlike an elected pirate officer, these poor souls were forced into some of the most dangerous work on the ship. Harshly treated and rarely paid, if they survived their service without being mortally wounded, desertion held more appeal than any hope of rising through the pirate ranks.
Pirate Carpenter
Altonaer Museum, Hamburg.
Christoph Braun, 2011. Public domain (CC0).
There was perhaps no more highly regarded craftsman in a pirate crew when your life depended on the soundness of the wood around and beneath you. The pirate carpenter repaired battle damage to masts, yards, hatches, and the hull, and kept the ship’s leaky seams in check with wooden plugs and oakum fibers. He usually had separate quarters combined with a workspace, and typically had an apprentice assistant.
Pirate Surgeon & Cook
Thomas Rowlandson, 1799. Public domain.
Royal Museums Greenwich.
Surgeons were a highly valued part of any pirate ship crew and were often taken from the crews of captured ships, though they were not ordinarily asked to sign the pirate articles. They dealt with fevers, infections, and the carnage of battle — amputations were common on a Golden Age pirate ship. When no surgeon was available, a carpenter or even a cook would be pressed into service. The carpenter at least had the tools and cutting experience; a cook filling the surgeon’s role was a grimmer proposition.
More often than not, the pirate cook was a disabled crew member allowed to stay aboard if he could produce food that didn’t kill the pirate crew. The logic being: if a pirate crew survived his cooking, perhaps he could manage something healing as a stand-in surgeon.
Pirate Cooper
Dutch woodcut, c.1827–1860. Public domain.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
If a pirate captain enjoyed a prosperous enough career, he could afford the services of a pirate cooper — a barrel maker. Nearly everything not in a crate or canvas bag was stored in a barrel. Using steel hoops and strong wood, the cooper made containers to keep gunpowder dry, food free of pests, and water and spirits from leaking into the bilge. With the ship's constant motion and shifting cargo, the hoops and staves required ongoing upkeep to remain tight and intact. A skilled cooper was also responsible for salvaging damaged barrels after battle or rough weather — a burst barrel of gunpowder or a leaking water cask at sea was a crisis, not an inconvenience. On a long voyage, the cooper's work was as vital to survival as the surgeon's.
Pirate Musicians
Charles Ellms, 1837. Public domain.
The Pirates Own Book.
Those who could play drums, bagpipes, trumpets, accordions, or fiddles were so prized that they typically escaped torture if captured by pirates. With entertainment scarce on long days at sea, musicians played jigs to dance to, led shanties for work tempo, and provided dinner music. Before and during battle, they blared martial tunes and nautical favorites to inspire the crew. Bartholomew Roberts — Black Bart, the most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy — wrote a specific provision into his pirate articles guaranteeing his musicians’ right to rest on the Sabbath. It was a small but telling window into the pirate democracy and pirate life he governed by.
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