The Story of Maritime Adventure

YiggityYuh

Honorable Pirate
I was looking for a way to contribute some to this forum and I just happen to ABSOLUTELY LOVE ships. I have a very broad understanding of them and decided I'd like to share that with you all! Every day, I will have a bit of history to tell in this thread or i will have a ship of the day, and I know of some very good ones too! So stay tuned for some amazing ship facts and some really cool looking ships! Who knows? maybe one of these may slip into the game one day! I'll have new posts in this thread by 8:00 PM every day (exceeding vacation time where I cant access my computer! Hope you enjoy!
 
Ill start of the ship of the day with one of my favorites. Behold the Thomas W. Lawson!
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This beauty was a Schooner, the only ship to ever have 7 masts. The United States launched the Lawson in 1902. With a tonnage (carying capacity) of over 9,000 tons, The Lawson also was the most powerful of the schooners. The sails were lifted by steam powered winches and each mast was identical, exceeding the last which was enlarged to improve the flow of wind through the sails. The ship wreck off the Isles of Sicily in 1902.
 
Today's ship design lesson is about the jib sail. A jib sail is a triangular stay sail that sets ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bow, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast. The jib sail allows for improved speed and turning depending on the placement of the jib. The idea behind the jib sail is to add more speed without the cost of building another mast. Some ships use a large jib as their main sail, just as you would see on that of the sloops in POTCO. This allows for lots of speed and at a superb cost.
 
I'd be delighted to, there's no set in stone list of ranks, but there are ones that are widely know, I'll list the ones i believe work best and were how I did it with my guild back in the day. I'f you desire to do it for another game there is a longer list which i shall post too.

There are three tiers I stage this in you may ignore the first two if you wish as they are for larger populated groups (I kinda stage my guild more like an empire XD)

Chief of all the tiers is the Pirate Council (The Brain):
Pirate King - Head of the armada, oversee's the council and larger scale fleet battles who manages the executives
Then there are 6 pirate lord
Treasurer - Takes inventory on fleet and overall armada wealth, assisted by logistics officers
Secretary - Develops the agenda for the armada, assisted by one to two fleet officers
Admiral - coordinates fleet advances and activities.
Guerrilla - coordinates land advances and activities.
Diplomat - coordinates affairs with other guilds/armadas
Handler - Supervisor of the trainers and master of innovative strategies.

The Council is the spider of the web, These six positions of authority will govern 20 to 200 pirates.

Tier II (The Nerves):
Rooke - Basically the head of the second tier, all officers report to this position, who then reports to a Pirate Lord or the King
Fleet Officer - Each is in charge of it's own fleet and is responsible for any active duty fleet actions
LL (Land Lubber): leaders of land engagement
Officer - general command of the armada, usually assists a fleet officer or the Handler as officers are only promoted with experience

The second tier is how the Council executes commands or decisions. without it, the Council would have to do a lot on their own.

Ok here's what you were looking four, Tier I, the body, the crew:

Ship's captain - I mean, it's the captain, pretty straight forward, keeps the crew from falling apart.
Quarter Master - Represent's the crew and the captain, it's the VP but also the chief justice for minor offenses
Boatswain - Supervises maintenance and cargo on the ship, he's the guy that keeps yelling at you to work harder ( alternatively called Bossun)
Master gunner - responsible for ships guns and ammuniton n/a to POTCO though
------------------ The rest really isnt rank its just general crew but each has its importance
Carpenters - Fix the ship
Mate - apprentices to Quarter Master and Captain and such (First mate is usually the Captain's apprentice
A.B.S. (Able-Bodied Sailor): Common Sailor
Rigger - these guys are the ones you see dangling from the masts furling the sails.
Cabin Boy - Kid's who do misc. chores on the ship, mostly washing dishes and peeling potatoes like you would be working kitchen police in the marines.
Powder monkey - gunners
Swab or "Swabbie" : Technically not a rank but there the ones who swab the ship, its become slang for the newbies or someone who you don't hold in high regard.

Sorry I gave you more than you asked for but I figured it might help some of the people out there who want to make a bit bigger guilds when this game gets back up and running. If you or anyone else has any questions about building an empire, be it pirate or any other kind I'm your man! Hope this helps!
 
I made a really cool find in a ship book that I bought a while back regarding oars on a boat designed by the ancient Egyptians when archaeologists discovered what they named the Cheops boat, owned by King Cheops and buried with him, in his pyramid. They found that the Egyptians set their oars at a very steep angle, thus allowing them to be placed on a rack making it easier to row. I thought it sounded pretty cool!
 
Today's Ship of the day is none other than the grand Xebec!
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This ship class's origin is unknown, though it is rumored to be a creation of the Pirates of the Barbary Coast, who used these craft to plunder settlements in their days and later adopted by the French and Spanish. The Xebec was powered by both sail and oar with the sails close to the hull to pick up more wind and allowing the ship to reach record speeds. With room for 30 guns and over 50 crewman, this swift ship was just what the Barbary Pirates needed to plunder settlements quickly.
 
Today's ship design lesson is about the halyard. A Halyard is a rope used for raising and lowering a sail, spar, flag, or yard on a sailing ship. The task of raising and lowering these parts is no easy tasks, and normally required multiple men to accomplish. The halyard is what keeps the rigging crew in business and is the gas and break pedal on a sailing ship.
 
Today, instead of a ship, we look at a Captain instead, for this man is one of the greatest maritime strategists to ever live!
I speak of none other than Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson
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Nelson was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy (flag officer meant he was of enough authority to fly his own flag) and was one of the greatest leaders in England's history. Nelson served in many wars ranging from the American Revolution to the Napoleonic Wars. He died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, but still remains a war hero to this day even as his last battle was a victory! Even in death he was undefeated. If you wish to look up more on Nelson, i recommend that you visit the link here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Nelson,_1st_Viscount_Nelson
as nothing I say can quite do this man justice!
 
Awesome idea for a thread and I really like the way you are approaching this. Very interesting and helpful information. ;) (Note: I just wish @LEO was around because he would have loved this thread as well).

Once a sea-dog, always a sea-dog...me say.
 
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