pirates
Joshamee Gibbs was the navigator on the British Navy ship, the HMS Providence.

Joshamee Gibbs was the navigator on the British Navy ship, the HMS Providence.

"Well, besides the odd stroke of luck that saved our tails on this most recent mission, we don't know anything about navigating, either. Or did you miss the bit where we got lost and wound up in a hurricane? These lads know what they're doing. We'll never find the Sword of Cortés without decent navigators."
―Jack Sparrow[src]

A navigator was the person on board a ship responsible for its navigation. The primary responsibility of the navigator was to be aware of ship's position at all times. Other responsibilities include planning the journey, advising the ship's captain or commander of estimated timing to destinations while en route, and ensuring hazards were avoided. The navigator was in charge of maintaining the ship's maps, nautical charts, nautical publications, and navigational equipment. Professional mariners being proficient in traditional navigation tasks, like piloting and celestial navigation.

History

Over the course of time and history, by the Age of Piracy, a navigator of a ship had to be able to read, write, know mathematics and astronomy to guide a ship to its destination. The navigator of a ship was usually the first person to be kidnapped.[1] Davy Jones, the cursed captain of the Flying Dutchman, was skilled as a master navigator.[2]

After Jean Magliore and Tumen was were picked up and rescued from Isla Esquelética, the very first island visited in young Jack Sparrow's quest for the Sword of Cortés, the young sailors joined Jack's crew as the navigators aboard his ship, the Barnacle,[3] with Tumen considered an expert navigator.[4] Years later, when Jack Sparrow became a merchant seaman for the East India Trading Company, he served as the navigator under Captain Nathaniel Bainbridge, who was also navigator, aboard the Fair Wind.[5]

During the quest for the Fountain of Youth, Jack Sparrow was forced aboard Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, serving as a deckhand as well as the navigator to help Blackbeard find the Fountain.[6] Joshamee Gibbs was also forced to join Captain Hector Barbossa and the British Navy as the navigator aboard the HMS Providence.[7][8]

Notable navigators

Behind the scenes

"I don't have a need of you questioning my orders, Mister Gibbs."
"Aye, you give the orders, now, is that how it is?"
"Gibbs, by my authority, you're to follow the heading suggested by Mister Barbossa, in his official capacity of -- navigator."
―Barbossa, Joshamee Gibbs, and Will Turner[src] (original screenplay)

Navigators were first identified by name in the 2006 book Jack Sparrow: The Coming Storm by Rob Kidd.[3]

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's first screenplay draft of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Mister Gibbs questioned Barbossa's right to give the orders during the Hai Peng's journey to World's End in the quest to rescue Jack Sparrow, only for Will Turner to intervene and order Gibbs to follow the heading suggested by Barbossa in his official capacity of navigator.[10]

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's screenplay for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Hector Barbossa refers to Joshamee Gibbs as the navigator while talking to Leftenant Commander Groves aboard the HMS Providence.[11] The line was cut from the film,[8] but was retained in James Ponti's junior novelization,[7] as well as the deleted scene "Smart, Now!" in the film's home video releases.[12]

While Jack Sparrow was never identified in the final cut of On Stranger Tides,[8] he was identified as a navigator in the movie storybook of the film.[6]

Appearances

Sources

External links

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl: "Scoundrels of the Seas"
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Pirates of the Caribbean Annual 2008, p. 50
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Jack Sparrow: The Coming Storm, p. 78
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Jack Sparrow: The Pirate Chase, p. 5
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 The Price of Freedom, Chapter Two: Lady Esmeralda
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Movie Storybook, p. 43
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (junior novelization), pp. 51-52
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Price of Freedom, Chapter Fifteen: Kerma
  10. ↑ PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio, original draft
  11. ↑ Wordplayer.com: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
  12. ↑ Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Deleted Scene: "Smart, Now!"