In most fiction I’ve read, a ship’s captain is the ultimate authority, with maybe a second in command that does most of the hands-on work with the crew. But in Clavell’s novel, he paints a picture of the pilot actually being the one in charge, giving order and often a captain deferring to his judgment. Is this how the power dynamic actually worked on ships of the time, or is the author’s creation?
The pilot in Shogun was inspired by English navigator William Adams who signed on for service aboard a Dutch merchant fleet as ‘pilot-major’ in 1598. Unfortunately, I’m more familiar with the standard VOC (Dutch East India Company) ships’ command structure and the VOC was only established 4 years later. However, I believe Adams’ role either corresponds to the VOC role of ‘skipper’ or corresponds to one of the roles on the skipper’s team. I also believe the command structure was similar, given what I know of Adams' voyage to Japan, so let me outline the relationship between the skipper and the captain on board a VOC ship.
Because the VOC was primarily concerned with trade, the most senior officer on board a VOC ship, what we would call the ‘captain’, was the upper-merchant.
The upper-merchant acted as a representative of the VOC and managed the ship’s trading activities. It was his responsibility to ensure the safety of VOC funds aboard the ship and to direct the acquisition of valuable goods.
However, he was also overall in charge of the ship and had powers and duties that we would associate with a captain. For example, he had full authority to enforce discipline. The soldiers and military officers on board the vessel reported to him. On board his ship, his word was law.
The upper-merchant, being a merchant, had no clue how to sail a ship. The actual navigation and sailing of the ship was the responsibility of the skipper who was overall second-in-command. The skipper technically reported to the upper-merchant, so the upper-merchant could override the skipper. For instance, if the skipper advised setting sail before the winds changed, but the upper-merchant felt that company interests dictated that the ship stay in port for 2 more days, he could theoretically order the skipper to stay put.
But, in reality, when it came to matters of sailing and navigation (setting a course, how long the ship should sail in what direction, when to make a left turn etc.) the upper-merchant was very unlikely to overrule the skipper. Nor was he expected to, even though he was technically the captain. In 1629, for example, when the ship Batavia struck a reef, it was the skipper and not the upper-merchant who was held responsible for the crash.
We can see a little of how the system worked in the case of Adams himself. The fleet was assembled and funded by a group of merchants. His ship’s captain was Simon de Cordes, a Dutch merchant. Adams described in a letter that, on reaching the Straits of Magellan, the seasonal winds were good and could have carried the fleet through the Straits. However, De Cordes exerted his authority, ordering the fleet to drop anchor and take on wood, water and food. He ordered them to stay so long that by the time they were done, the winds were no longer favourable and they ended up staying 5 months in the Straits while the food they had gathered dwindled until men started dying of hunger.
Among the dead was de Cordes himself. His replacement as captain, Jacob Quaeckernaeck, had been a navigator. By the time the ship reached Japan after a long and terrible voyage, Quaeckernaeck was desperately sick. So, though matters of trade and diplomacy were under the purview of the captain, the duty of leading a delegation ashore fell to Adams as the most senior officer who could still walk.
This kind of thing, where a captain might overrule his skipper and issue a truly boneheaded order, became much less common later in the VOC era as trading routes became standardised. The VOC issued strict instructions about how, where and when to sail, and thus the chances of human error from both upper-merchant and skipper were lower. During the time Shogun is set in, though, things could get rather messy.
de Jong, Johan. (2010). STANDVASTIGHEID & VERWACHTING: a historical and philosophical inquiry into standardization and innovation in design and production of the VOC retourschip during the 18th century. 10.13140/RG.2.1.4695.9842.
Veith, I. (1945). Englishman or Samurai: The Story of Will Adams. The Far Eastern Quarterly, 5(1), 5–27. https://doi.org/10.2307/2049448
Corr, William. (1995). Adams the pilot : the life and times of Captain William Adams, 1564-1620. Folkestone, Kent : Japan Library