Quartermaster

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For other uses, see Quartermaster (disambiguation)

The quartermaster that served aboard the Edinburgh Trader.

"Quartermaster. Get me six more pistols, remove the shot from all but two, but do not tell me which two."

―Blackbeard to Quartermaster

Quartermaster was a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster was an officer who supervised logistics and requisitions, managed stores or barracks, and distributed supplies and provisions. In navies, from which the title was mostly used, a quartermaster was a seaman or petty officer with responsibility for navigation and operation of the helm of a ship.

The term appears to derive from the title of a German royal official, the Quartiermeister, a term which meant "master of quarters" (where "quarters" refers to lodging or accommodation). Alternatively, it could have been derived from "master of the quarterdeck" where the helmsman and captain controlled the ship. The term's first use in English was as a naval term, which entered English in the 1400s via the equivalent French and Dutch naval titles quartier-maître and kwartier-meester, respectively. The term began to refer to army officers in English around 1600.

Pirate quartermasters were commonly elected by the crew members, and ranked higher than any officer aboard the ship, except the captain. Pirate quartermasters could veto the captain's decisions and often oversaw punishments and discipline for such crew members that transgressed the Code of the Brethren. It was also common for quartermasters to lead pirate boarding parties.

Notable quartermasters

• Logan (Wicked Wench)
• Jan van der Groote (Black Pearl)
• Joshamee Gibbs (Interceptor, Black Pearl)
• Undead Quarter Masters (Phantom, Storm Reaper, Black Harbinger, Revenant, Death Omen)
• Quartermaster (Edinburgh Trader)
• Quartermaster (Flying Dutchman)
• Quartermaster (Queen Anne's Revenge)

Behind the scenes

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's first screenplay draft of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow referred to Joshamee Gibbs as a quartermaster. This line of dialogue never made it to the final cut of the film, but was retained in Irene Trimble's 2003 novelization.

In the video game Pirates of the Caribbean Online there were swords called Quarter Master's Broadsword, Quarter Master's Cutlass, and Quarter Master's Sabre.

Quartermaster is one the ranks a player can earn in Pirates of the Caribbean: Master of the Seas.

Appearances

• The Price of Freedom
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003 junior novelization) (First appearance)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Sources

• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: The Visual Guide

External links

• Quartermaster on Wikipedia