1727: Captain, or Post-Captain Cook? Sep 6, 2019

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Some have said that Captain James Cook was not a captain, pointing to the fact that he was a lieutenant, a commander, and post-captain. Those other facts are true, technically, but it shows a misunderstanding of what a post-captain is. First, there is no longer a position called 'post-captain', which nowadays is just called 'commander' or usually 'captain' depending upon the ship. Even so, and more importantly, at the time, a post-captain was an officer promoted from commander to captain, and moreover one who had seniority and whose name was publicly 'posted'. It also it signified that he commanded a rated ship, i.e. having three or more masts. The descriptor 'post-captain' has never been a title though, so even for the time he was addressed as 'Capt. Cook'. That is to say, in short, that Capt. Cook was not only a captain, but also of the the highest rank one could be.

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