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Gunner was the rank for a commanding officer or crew member who operated or specialized in guns as well as being in charge of a ship's cannons (or "guns"), gunpowder, as well as the gunnery crews. In some instances a master gunner would give orders to other gunners on how to set their guns and aim during a broadside. It took years of practice to become a good gunner.

History

When the Cobra was attacked by rogue pirates, Captain Hector Barbossa ordered his men to launch the boats, while the gunnery crew kept firing to hide their effort as the Cobra sank following the losing battle. Later, as Barbossa told this story to the assembled Pirate Lords at Shipwreck Cove, Jack Sparrow envisioned a similar situation where the smoke, making your eyes water, the tears making clean trails down the blackened faces of the gunnery crew.^[1] While serving aboard La Vipère, the ship of the rogue pirate Christophe-Julien de Rapièr, pursuing an unlucky vessel, Sparrow and Robert "Robby" Grene were sent below to the gun deck to assist the gunnery crew, readying the ship for battle. During the battle, Jack stood there, wondering whether he'd be assigned to the gunnery crew, or the boarding party, though suggested that if he were Christophe, he wouldn't allow unsupervised access to powder or the big guns.^[2] Several years later, when Sparrow became captain of the East India Trading Company merchant vessel Wicked Wench, Ayisha stuffed her ears with bits of fabric, and watched the gunners as they readied and fired the big twelve-pounders during a battle against the Koldunya. She was fascinated by the way the gun crews swabbed out the barrels of the cannons, loaded them with powder and shot, then touched off the powder holes with their slow matches. The sweating crews slaved over their cannons, competing to see which team could fire the fastest and come the closest to hitting the floating targets Jack had had the carpenters make for firing practice.^[3] As the Wicked Wench was firing her cannons, all the gunners and gun crews were gathered on the port side of the ship, working feverishly to swab out the barrels of the cannons so they could reload. Moments passed, then the enemy gunners fired again, almost at the same exact moment as the guns on the Wench belched smoke and deadly shot. Jedidiah Parker was the gunnery master during the battle, with his face smudged nearly as dark as Chamba's from smoke and powder residue. Parker gazed at Jack through reddened eyes, telling Sparrow they had three or four more broadsides, and then a few more rounds of six-pound shot for the guns on the weather deck.^[4]

During the war against Lord Cutler Beckett and the EITC, gunners were stationed aboard the HMS Endeavour,^[5] and cannon gunners were stationed aboard the Flying Dutchman.^[6][7]

By the quest for the Fountain of Youth, Edward "Blackbeard" Teach created zombie officers among the crew aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, including Gunner, who could be relied upon to bully any human crew member into following orders.^[8] Captain Hector Barbossa, now a privateer aboard the British Royal Navy vessel HMS Providence ordered the gunners to take post as they prepared for battle against three Spanish galleons.^[9]

Behind the scenes

Gunners appeared while manning the cannons in most Pirates of the Caribbean media. They were first identified as "cannon gunners" in the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End video game.^[6][7]

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, as the crew of the HMS Dauntless came upon a merchant vessel, Lieutenant and Captain Norrington told the gunnery crew to get the jackets off the cannons.^[10]

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, during a skirmish between the Black Pearl and the Endeavour, Jack Sparrow searches for a way across. He shoves a gunner away from a cannon, kicks away the brace, flips the cannon over, facing into the ship.^[11] By the final cut of the film, the gunner was omitted as Jack is seen wrapping a rope around the cannon wheel, a burning fuse lighter in hand.^[5]

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Gunner was the name of a Zombie officer aboard Blackbeard's ship, Queen Anne's Revenge. Aboard the HMS Providence, Captain Hector Barbossa called the gunners "cannoneers" as the Providence crew prepared for battle against the three Spanish galleons.^[12] The term "cannoneers" was replaced by "gunners" by the final cut of the film.^[9]

Appearances

• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
• LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game

Sources

• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: Official Strategy Guide (First identified as cannon gunner)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: The Visual Guide

Notes and references

1. ↑ The Price of Freedom, Chapter Two: Lady Esmeralda
2. ↑ The Price of Freedom, Chapter Eleven: Pirates and Rogues
3. ↑ The Price of Freedom, Chapter Twelve: Shabako
4. ↑ The Price of Freedom, Chapter Thirteen: "Red Flag...Ho!"
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: Official Strategy Guide
8. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: The Visual Guide, p. 36
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
10. ↑ Wordplayer.com: WORDPLAY/Archives/Screenplay - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
11. ↑ Wordplayer.com: WORDPLAY/Archives/Screenplay - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
12. ↑ Wordplayer.com: WORDPLAY/Archives/Screenplay - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio