Today’s great love of the pirate costume derived from the notoriety of the pirates. Pirates loved to attack other ships on the high seas. But many had special jobs to carry out on board their own vessels. Listed below are a few of these tasks.

The captain clearly was in control of his unruly crew. The best way for him to keep his authority was to be far more frightening than anyone of lesser rank. He had to be quite different from the rest of the crew, because life at sea was tough enough without an inexperienced captain making it worse. He was chosen as a head of this rogue’s democracy and would have already gained respect for his leadership and navigation abilities. He would also be level-headed under pressure with crew members in the midst of battles at sea.

The navigator studied the sea charts to guide the ship on its adventures. As such, he was probably the smartest person on board.

Deck scrubbers had to clean up all sorts of mess. That included salty sea water, pirate spit and blood from previous battles.