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I must go down to the sea again - an Age of Sail quest

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Artificial Girl said:
Oh, yes. Especially if a ship is paid off, then bringing them along is easier. You can definitely keep your steward. The others might be trickier, depending on the situation.
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I mostly meant... Like, all of them. I mean, they like us, and trust us. That's something you can't buy.
If we ever make it to post captain, I want there to be at least one guy in our crew who was there since the beginning
 
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In the Royal Navy, at least (on which this is based), captains usually had some discretion on who they brought along, although they couldn't really whole-sale bring the whole crew.
 
Rat King said:
In the Royal Navy, at least (on which this is based), captains usually had some discretion on who they brought along, although they couldn't really whole-sale bring the whole crew.
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Yeah, though it wasn't unusual for a captain to abscond with a whole bunch of petty officers, warrant officers, and able seamen and leaving the worst for the new captain to deal with.
 
[X] Promote one of your midshipmen and bring a third midshipman on board as well: See if there are any midshipmen worth poaching onto your cutter and make one of your existing midshipmen Acting Lieutenant.
-[X] Sofia Eusoneus: She is the senior middie and will be examining for lieutenant before long. Making her acting lieutenant will be good experience for her, though it means putting her above Mister Piteras who is used to acting as executive officer aboard your little ship.
 
Mmh, I definitely don't think we have the room or reason to request an additional lieutenant until we get our new ship. No idea who I want to promote and how though.
 
Estro said:
Is it wrong I don't want to overset Mister Peiteras ? He's done so well :X
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DocMatoi said:
[X] promote Piteras
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Making one of your midshipmen acting lieutenant would technically offset Mister Piteras, yes, but it's something he reasonably expects. He is only your XO by virtue of the fact that a cutter usually has no other officers between the captain (you, as a lieutenant) and the sailing master. Making someone higher ranked than him might rankle because it's not typical on the ship you're on but it's not something that's likely to be a huge personal offence.

Also Mister Piteras, as sailing master, has basically reached the pinnacle of his career as a warranted officer. He is in charge of all the sailing and navigation on the ship and if he gets transferred into a larger vessel will have a huge amount of authority. Promoting him to lieutenant now is not something he's likely to seek because it would mean a reduction in many of ways of responsibilities and authority, even if means more pay. Plus it would dead-end his career anyway, except he would be in a position that is in some ways less prestigious and more difficult to attain. He is in his mid-thirties and no one wants a lieutenant that old on their ship--he'll be seen as a Johnny Come-Lately or perceived as bad at his job by people who don't know him. As a sailing master, he is seen as a skilled officer who knows how to navigate and sail the ship as well or even better than the person commanding it. As things are, he essentially is a lieutenant in terms of authority and responsibility though he will always rank as the most junior because he has a warrant and not a commission.

Wikipedia:

The master's main duty was navigation, taking the ship's position at least daily and setting the sails as appropriate for the required course and conditions. During combat, he was stationed on the quarterdeck, next to the captain. The master was responsible for fitting out the ship, and making sure they had all the sailing supplies necessary for the voyage. The master also was in charge of stowing the hold and ensuring the ship was not too weighted down to sail effectively. The master, through his subordinates, hoisted and lowered the anchor, docked and undocked the ship, and inspected the ship daily for problems with the anchors, sails, masts, ropes, or pulleys. Issues were brought to the attention of the master, who would notify the captain. The master was in charge of the entry of parts of the official log such as weather, position, and expenditures.
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I just want him to remain XO. So, with that in mind:

[X] Change nothing: It's not broken. Why try to fix it?
 
[X] Change nothing: It's not broken. Why try to fix it?
 
Basicly the hope is that promoting the older girl into a lieutenant will make her do the exams and get her promoted to either take over the ship when we leave if she has connections or we take her with us when we get promoted if she doesnt have connections and taking someones nephew helps with our origins hopefully since we are educating them and creates allies in the future.

And 6th rates wich are corvettes usually at 20-28 guns had commanders i think from time to time since post captains wanted frigates usually or very small frigates i guess (corvettes were a step between frigates and brigs) .They are like half a century earlier than frigates and were also a french invention actually wich british decided to rip off for their navy and the same is true for frigates. Altough the 74 gun ship wich was the main "battleship" of the navy was a british invention i think but it is kinda funny that the more numerous and prestigious postings were actually french origin ships from the design point and french captured stuff was even better sailing wise .

But if corvettes arent a option thanks to post captain stuff then that makes sense i guess.

Also we will probably be a replacement officer if the xo isnt senior enough thanks to our lack of connections so we cant raid the entire crew. But taking some petty officers and mates was usual for commander level stuff.
 
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[X] Change nothing: It's not broken. Why try to fix it?
 
Ok so the plan is to take auxentius, our middies, and possibly Piteras, right?
 
U cant straight out replace petty officers if the ship has them already without a good reason or atleast without creating serious resentment and as i said the most likely situation is a death/disabled commander replacement most likely since i doubt we have any clout to get a new build or a capture . Like we got the current ship and it will take several months most likely maybe up to a year.

Probably next chapter will be the court martial ( please keep it concise here) and our next orders while we wait for our promotion confirmation. WOuldnt hate doing more anti smuggling for the loot or trying to track down ducal stuff i guess?
 
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We don't want to keep the political when we move ships, he's a liability. Keeping Sofia is probably useful, and promoting her with the implication that she comes with us to our next ship? We obviously keep our cool Boat Butler, but IDK whether we want to make Piteras move?
 
veteranMortal said:
We don't want to keep the political when we move ships, he's a liability. Keeping Sofia is probably useful, and promoting her with the implication that she comes with us to our next ship? We obviously keep our cool Boat Butler, but IDK whether we want to make Piteras move?
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Nah rhangabe is pulling his weight. He's nowhere near useless or a liability, I don't know how you got that impression?
 
Hmm. Under this sort of irregular circumstance, would it be considered unbecoming to step to the side, as it were, and have Lieutenant Eusoneus act as captain for the voyage home with ourselves as a higher-ranking passenger? That should allow Mister Piteras to retain his position as XO while dealing with the "need another officer" issue, and if Miss Eusoneus intends to test for promotion then the experience of captaining a ship, however briefly, should be a point in her favor.
 
Let's just concentrate on capturing us a nice ducal brig.
That way, we could take one of the midshipmen, find some sailors and go back to Byzarnon with an effective promotion.
 
The Sandman said:
Hmm. Under this sort of irregular circumstance, would it be considered unbecoming to step to the side, as it were, and have Lieutenant Eusoneus act as captain for the voyage home with ourselves as a higher-ranking passenger? That should allow Mister Piteras to retain his position as XO while dealing with the "need another officer" issue, and if Miss Eusoneus intends to test for promotion then the experience of captaining a ship, however briefly, should be a point in her favor.
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We aren't confirmed as commander yet, and we are captain of this ship. It's ours. ours!
 
The Sandman said:
Hmm. Under this sort of irregular circumstance, would it be considered unbecoming to step to the side, as it were, and have Lieutenant Eusoneus act as captain for the voyage home with ourselves as a higher-ranking passenger? That should allow Mister Piteras to retain his position as XO while dealing with the "need another officer" issue, and if Miss Eusoneus intends to test for promotion then the experience of captaining a ship, however briefly, should be a point in her favor.
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You are now under the orders of the Admiral Lady Barda, since your orders were to deliver the packet and then await further orders from her. So you're now attached to her squadron awaiting more specific orders. She's basically said "I don't have a sloop or brig for you right now, so just keep commanding your cutter, we'll see what we can do. Plus this gives you time to get confirmed by the admiralty and saves the embarrassment that would ensue for everyone if I just gave you a sloop now and then in six months the admiralty says 'nah actually no.'"

Essentially your promotion is technically not yet official, but with the Lady Admiral backing it and the glowing report of your actions, it's pretty much set, but there is still a small chance that might not be the case.
 
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Yeah thats my plans point , basicly our goal is for our senior midshipwoman to have a temp lt rating so she takes the lt exam whenever its possible so that she either takes over the cutter if she has enough connections while we take the younger one with us since he is a admirals grandson i think or if she doesnt then we take her and the midshipman and our butler with us instead and have a reliable officer wich is important considering our lack of social rank.

we also get a 3rd midshipman for further allies or seeing as doing a favor to someone wich is sorely needed since we are common seaman origin wich is vital for us anyway.

My hope is that we either patrol for smugglers or get involved in the ducal navy stuff and get rich off that since it might take like 6 months for our confirmation to get through and like another 6 months for them to find a ship for us.

The master sailor or whatever the dudes title is shouldnt be that put out that he isnt 2nd in command anymore since he isnt a freaking officer wich is important fact and he has his duties anyway and he made serious money from the prize aswell. And as i said unless we capture a brig or a sloop ourselves i doubt we can get real liberal with appointments or raiding our own crew for that and probably will be a injury/death replacement instead and for that u get like 2-3 people with u tops.
 
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atrophy said:
Yeah thats my plans point , basicly our goal is for our senior midshipwoman to have a temp lt rating so she takes the lt exam whenever its possible so that she either takes over the cutter if she has enough connections while we take the younger one with us since he is a admirals grandson i think or if she doesnt then we take her and the midshipman and our butler with us instead and have a reliable officer wich is important considering our lack of social rank.

we also get a 3rd midshipman for further allies or seeing as doing a favor to someone wich is sorely needed since we are common seaman origin wich is vital for us anyway.

My hope is that we either patrol for smugglers or get involved in the ducal navy stuff and get rich off that since it might take like 6 months for our confirmation to get through and like another 6 months for them to find a ship for us.

The master sailor or whatever the dudes title is shouldnt be that put out that he isnt 2nd in command anymore since he isnt a freaking officer wich is important fact and he has his duties anyway and he made serious money from the prize aswell. And as i said unless we capture a brig or a sloop ourselves i doubt we can get real liberal with appointments or raiding our own crew for that and probably will be a injury/death replacement instead and for that u get like 2-3 people with u tops.
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Well, he IS an officer. He's just a warrant officer instead of a commissioned officer.
 
[x] Promote one of your midshipmen and bring a third midshipman on board as well: See if there are any midshipmen worth poaching onto your cutter and make one of your existing midshipmen Acting Lieutenant.
-[x] Sofia Eusoneus: She is the senior middie and will be examining for lieutenant before long. Making her acting lieutenant will be good experience for her, though it means putting her above Mister Piteras who is used to acting as executive officer aboard your little ship.
 
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