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For other uses, see Quartermaster (disambiguation)
CotBPJackSmithorSmithyCropped
"Smith. Or Smithy, if you like."
The title of this article is a nickname or alias.
This article is about a subject that has not been identified with an official name and is known only by a nickname or alias. Please see the relevant discussion or explanation in the article itself.

"It's not like that, sir. This ship is haunted."
"Is it, now? And you?"
"There's a female presence amongst us here, sir. All the men, they can feel it."
"It's the ghost of a lady widowed before her marriage, I figure it, searching for her husband, lost at sea.
"
Bursar, Captain Bellamy, Quartermaster, Sailor[src]

This man was a sailor who served aboard the merchant ship, the Edinburgh Trader, as the ship's quartermaster during the time of the East India Trading Company's appearance in Port Royal. The Quartermaster showed a superstitious nature, as noted by Captain Bellamy.

Biography[]

At some unknown point likely in his early life, this man became a merchant sailor serving aboard the East India Trading Company ship, the Edinburgh Trader, under Captain Bellamy. He would serve as Quartermaster aboard the ship. Around 1729, the Trader left Port Royal. As it sailed out to open sea, a younger sailor found a beautiful dress on the main deck, and informed his crewmates immediately. The bursar and the Quartermaster got into an argument over the dress, which they alleged to be evidence of an unrequited female spirit aboard the ship. The Quartermaster assumed it to mean the ship was haunted by a female presence. The Quartermaster spoke up to Captain Bellamy when questioned, saying that all of the men had felt the presence of the spirit. The bursar's suggested solution to the perceived ghostly threat was to throw the dress overboard, however the Quartermaster contended with this, saying that such actions would only anger the spirit. Bellamy ordered them to find the stowaway who had put the dress there, and also stated that she was probably naked.[1]

The crew searched to no avail, not uncovering the stowaway in the end. However, as the captain was in his cabin, the Quartermaster and the bursar saw the 'spirit' flying above them in the air. Unbeknownst to the fact that Elizabeth was using the dress as like a puppet, dangling it from the mast, they assumed that it was a spirit trying to give them a sign. The captain came outside along with the bursar and quartermaster, and they followed the spirit. After mistaking seaweed for a sign of entrails, they were alerted by another sailor to a message in the ground reading 'Tortuga', the name of the only free port in the area.[1]

After picking up some new crewmen in Tortuga, the crew of the Trader picked up a man at sea, William Turner Jr., who claimed that he had seen the dress before. As the whole ship suddenly shook, the Quartermaster assumed that it was just a reef, but Bellamy was soon grabbed by a tentacle of the Kraken. The whole crew panicked, and grabbed spears and pistols to defend themselves. The Quartermaster died during the Kraken's attack.[1]

Behind the scenes[]

"Sorry mate! It's every man for himself!"
―Quartermaster to Will Turner shortly before the Kraken attacks[src] (deleted scene)
  • The Quartermaster was portrayed by Steven Spiers in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. The character was credited as "Quartermaster/Edinburgh" in the film's credits.[1]
  • In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay draft of Dead Man's Chest, the Quartermaster was last seen before Captain Bellamy was killed during the Kraken's attack on the Edinburgh Trader crew. The Quartermaster's fate, however, was left ambiguous as the draft doesn't mention whether he was one of crewmen rowing away in a lifeboat that made it into the water before being smashed by the Kraken's tentacle, or one of the six survivors who were killed by Davy Jones' crew aboard the Flying Dutchman.[2] Although the scene with the lifeboat never made it to the final cut of the film, it was retained in the deleted scene "Every Man for Himself" featured in Blu-ray releases beginning in 2011. In the scene, the Quartermaster is among the survivors, taunting Will Turner before the longboat was smashed by the Kraken's tentacle.[3] However, as it was not revealed if this happened or not, it is unknown if it is considered canon.
"Captain Bellamy, we found this...dress. There's a female presence here with us... Everyone feels it."
"Ghost of a lady widowed before her marriage... Searching for her husband lost at sea.
"
Bursar and Quartermaster to Captain Bellamy[src]
  • In the Dead Man's Chest comic, the dialogue in which the Edinburgh Trader crew discovered was given to different characters. Compared to the film, the comic had Bursar being given the Quartermaster's lines, and the Quartermaster was given the Sailor's lines.[4]

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

vdeCrew of the Edinburgh Trader
Captain: Bellamy
BursarCookDeckhandQuartermasterSailorElizabeth Swann
Captain: Bellamy
BursarCookDeckhandQuartermasterSailorWill Turner
[edit]
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