%202024%2006%2017%20Ryan.jpg)
17th June 2024
Hey McBeth,
In regards to a video you posted where you mentioned the tradition of a Captain not eating with their crew, I happen to have read about this in a book called “Bully for Brontosaurus” by Stephen Jay Gould. There was an essay about the famous voyage of Charles Darwin aboard the HMS Beagle.
It would happen that back in the day of sailing ships the Captain was considered to be of higher class than his men. Do remember that the Captain was likely the only person on ship who could read and write in Darwin’s time and so was the only person who could keep logs. He had to be educated and education took money back then. Thus, the Captain was wealthy or a nobleman.
The United States government did not make reading and writing a requirement of education until after the First World War. It was deemed necessary for soldiers to be able to read complicated instructions for the weapons they would use. I’m not sure if England followed suit, but it was likely that until the Second World War most crew members were unable to keep logs. This could be why there was a tradition of the “Captain’s Log” as opposed to the ship’s log which I believe is more universal.
The essay in “Bully for Brontosaurus” stated that Darwin was aboard the Beagle as companion to the Captain. Isolation from the crew often caused mental problems for the men who commanded ships. He was there to keep the Captain from committing suicide as was common at the time.
In the layout of a three mast ship, like Hook’s ship from Peter Pan, you can note the Captain’s cabin aft of the third mast. This room was the highest built on the ship and had large windows affording the Captain light to read and write as he needed this for log keeping. It also cemented his status of being above the crew.
It should also be noted that the Captain would have had better food than the crew, and eating it in front of them would have bothered them and been bad for morale. The Captain would have been more vulnerable when eating, and so eating alone would have made it harder for the crew to attack him or poison his meal.
In other words, it was a good idea to keep the Captain from his crew for security reasons, but it was a measure of status back in the day. It would be less practical for an army unit to do this on the march which could be why this is not tradition in the army.
However, I will note that in the film “Letters from Iwo Jima” there was a line stating that Japans regulations required that an officer be served three dishes at every meal. This would indicate that the practice of an officer not eating with his men was common in some militaries. Then again, that was just a movie.
Best,
Richard Leland Neal
In regards to a video you posted where you mentioned the tradition of a Captain not eating with their crew, I happen to have read about this in a book called “Bully for Brontosaurus” by Stephen Jay Gould. There was an essay about the famous voyage of Charles Darwin aboard the HMS Beagle.
It would happen that back in the day of sailing ships the Captain was considered to be of higher class than his men. Do remember that the Captain was likely the only person on ship who could read and write in Darwin’s time and so was the only person who could keep logs. He had to be educated and education took money back then. Thus, the Captain was wealthy or a nobleman.
The United States government did not make reading and writing a requirement of education until after the First World War. It was deemed necessary for soldiers to be able to read complicated instructions for the weapons they would use. I’m not sure if England followed suit, but it was likely that until the Second World War most crew members were unable to keep logs. This could be why there was a tradition of the “Captain’s Log” as opposed to the ship’s log which I believe is more universal.
The essay in “Bully for Brontosaurus” stated that Darwin was aboard the Beagle as companion to the Captain. Isolation from the crew often caused mental problems for the men who commanded ships. He was there to keep the Captain from committing suicide as was common at the time.
In the layout of a three mast ship, like Hook’s ship from Peter Pan, you can note the Captain’s cabin aft of the third mast. This room was the highest built on the ship and had large windows affording the Captain light to read and write as he needed this for log keeping. It also cemented his status of being above the crew.
It should also be noted that the Captain would have had better food than the crew, and eating it in front of them would have bothered them and been bad for morale. The Captain would have been more vulnerable when eating, and so eating alone would have made it harder for the crew to attack him or poison his meal.
In other words, it was a good idea to keep the Captain from his crew for security reasons, but it was a measure of status back in the day. It would be less practical for an army unit to do this on the march which could be why this is not tradition in the army.
However, I will note that in the film “Letters from Iwo Jima” there was a line stating that Japans regulations required that an officer be served three dishes at every meal. This would indicate that the practice of an officer not eating with his men was common in some militaries. Then again, that was just a movie.
Best,
Richard Leland Neal
No comments:
Post a Comment