Captain, NAVAL, is the general designation for the officer in command of a ship of the royal navy, although some vessels of war are commanded by officers lower in rank than captain. Captains rise to the command of larger ships, with increase of pay, according to length of service. The captain is responsible for everything on shipboard, in discipline, navigation, equipment—all, in short, that concerns the personnel or matériel of the ship. If his ship belongs to a particular fleet or naval station, he is responsible to the admiral or commodore; if not, he is directly responsible to the Admiralty. The captain of that particular ship in a fleet which carries the admiral is called Flag-captain, and has local precedence over the others. The number of captains in the naval service on the active list is limited to one hundred and seventy-five, most of whom are employed. They rank with lieutenant-colonels in the army (in the United States, with colonels); and after three years' service, with colonels. The full pay and allowances of a captain vary from £600 to £930 a year. Post-captain is an obsolete title for a captain of three years' standing.
The Captain of the Fleet is a temporary officer in large fleets; he promulgates the admiral's orders, and receives all the reports and returns, filling, in short, a post equivalent to that of Chief of the Staff in an army. Among the seamen on board a ship, the chief of each gang is called captain; such as the captain of the forecastle, of the hold, of the maintop, of each gun, &c. For half-pay captains, see HALF-PAY.