Wages due for the (final) voyage of the Obra Dinn
Was fiddling around with the game after a long break and determined the wages (pay) that the crew members *would* have earned had the final voyage actually made it to the Orient as expected without that whole minor "death of the entire crew due to giant sea monsters and murderous officers" event. Just in case anyone was curious:
Captain's wages: £120.00
First Mate's wages: £90.00
Second Mate's wages: £80.00
Third Mate & Fourth Mate's wages: £70.00
Bosun, Surgeon, Gunner & Purser's wages: £60.00
Carpenter, Gunner's Mate & Artist's wages: £50.00
Captain's Steward's wages: £45.00
Bosun's Mate, Surgeon's Mate & Cook's wages: £40.00
Ship's Steward, 1st Mate's Steward & 2nd Mate's Steward's wages: £35.00
Carpenter's Mate, Butcher, Helmsman & Midshipman's wages: £30.00
Topman's wages: £25.00
Seaman's wages: £15.00
3rd Mate's Steward & 4th Mate's Steward's wages: £10.00
Total base wages paid to the crew at the end of the voyage: £1,765.00
Random thoughts:
Being the lowest paid crewmen on the ship makes sense for the two younger stewards, as back then these would usually be cabin boys (teens) learning a skill (Roderick & Davey both look pretty young).
It is a little surprising that the carpenter is making a lower wage than the other four "standing officers" you'd usually find on 19th century merchant ships. While these five warrant officer-level positions were typically permanently assigned to a vessel by the EITC for its service lifetime, historically their assistants (mates) are usually culled from the more promising members of the general crew that signed up for that particular voyage much like other non-general positions like helmsmen, cooks and butchers. As a result, Wiater the Gunner's Mate seems generally overpaid compared to his fellow petty officers and particularly Gibbs the Carpenter's Mate (I guess the only two Americans on board get paid less for their qualities just as a snub for that whole awkward Revolution thing about 20 years ago...lol).
As junior officers-in-training, I would've expected the midshipmen (who are usually middle-class young men above the rank and file of the general crew) to be more highly paid than the petty officers as well. Certainly they should be making more than that absolute chud of a cook...
The complete anomaly to me, as someone who has always been fascinated by and has read (relatively) extensively on the subject of 18th-century merchant travel, is Edward Spratt. A "ship's artist" is not a quality that gets mentioned anywhere in nautical lore that I've ever personally experienced outside of exploratory vessels where such a thing might be deemed necessary for research or recording purposes. A standard East Indiaman bound for a run-of-the-mill round trip to the Orient has no reason or explanation for even having one on board, let alone him being one of the highest paid crewmembers for the trip. From a narrative standpoint I understand why Lucas Pope included him over a more historically-accurate quality like sailmaker, armorer, cooper, caulker or ship's master but it *still* bugs me to this day.