In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex

The first mate is the second in command of a non-military vessel. Typically, this person is in charge of all that the captain is responsible for in name, but needs to delegate out for the sake of utility and expedience. Philbrick suggests that the ideal first mate will serve as a foil for the captain’s personality and style of leadership so that the two can balance each other’s weaknesses. This was partially the case on the Essex, but the temperamental differences between Pollard and Chase tended to exacerbate problems rather than mitigate them:

Pollard had known better [than to sail for South America], but instead of pulling rank […] he embraced a more democratic style of command […] [T]he Essex had ended up with a captain who had the instincts and soul of a mate, and a mate who had the ambition and fire of a captain (100-01).

On board a ship, the terms left and right are not used since the nature of a boat’s motion and direction can be relative. Rather than use left and right, the terms port and starboard refer to the different sides of the ship. Derived from an Old English term, starboard refers to the right side of the ship while facing the front (or bow); this is where the steering oar would have originally been set.