# Master & Commander (the book) question: what's a prize agent? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 16, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702 "2013-07-16T21:15:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/81 "2013-07-25T19:10:28Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > **vontsira** , I really think your comparison of Stephen to Sheldon Cooper is completely unjustified. It’s clear that Stephen is hopeless in the nautical line, and 80% of what we see is him at sea, and punctuality is beyond his capability, but in many other aspects of life he’s extremely competent. He’s an excellent and highly admired doctor, naturalist, and agent, he’s well known at Court, respected by Admirals, Lords, and the Regent, is a fearsome swordsman with a “horrid quick murdering lunge”, and eventually married the most beautiful and interesting woman in the entire series. Read my post again, if you kindly would – I was saying there, that I had an erroneous tendency to regard Dr. Maturin as rather like Dr. Professor Etc. Etc. Cooper; and that I was aware that I was wronging Stephen by tending to see him thus. Please realise that I’m confessing my sin and registering contrition – not laughing in the face of my Father Confessor and telling him that I haven’t sinned at all ! ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/82 "2013-07-26T02:53:50Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > So did you show up at 7 or just correct them on the spot? I knew what they meant. And I gently gave them some background. But one has to be careful not to appear too much the maritime nerd, so I didn’t push the point too hard. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/83 "2013-07-26T19:09:52Z")
I recall reading a story (back when I was a mere youngster) which included a character of around 10 – let’s call him Miguel – who often skipped school in favor of going for a swim or hanging out on the wharves at the harbor (the setting was somewhere in the tropical regions of Latin America, probably early 20th century, but that’s a guess). One of the few days that our scrappy protagonist bothered to show up to school coincided with a field trip of sorts down into his favorite stomping ground. When a nearby ship’s bell chimes twice, the teacher asks the students if they know what time it is. The brightest girl in the class, the one who always makes Miguel feel ashamed of his ignorance in all subjects other than the sea, confidently answers two o’clock. Miguel falls about laughing until his sides ache, then explains to his mystified schoolmates that the watch system used aboard ships reckons time very differently than, say, a clock tower. I was about five or six when I read this story, had never been within 100 miles of the sea, and, at the time, couldn’t read a normal clock. But it wasn’t until I first picked up _Master and Commander_ (around 10 years after graduating from college) that I actually learned how the system worked. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/84 "2013-07-28T03:15:09Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > What, they all start with the phrase "No shit, there we were … " 😃 > > G, D and R from all the Navy guys out there 😛 Navy guy here, this made me spit beer out of my nose. Oh the hundreds of stories I’ve heard (or told) that start with the disclaimer that “this is a no shitter…” ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/85 "2013-07-28T04:15:29Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I think the problem is the French navy historically didn’t do all that much. The British pretty much blockaded France throughout the Napoleonic wars. So a book about about a French captain would have him sitting in pot for month after month, waiting for orders to sail. The thing to do is to _not do_ the Napoleonic Wars. The French navy saw far more action in the 17th and 18th centuries and with their emphasis on commerce raiding ( after Louis XIV largely withdrew from the _guerre d’escadre_ for budgetary reasons ) and far flung possessions you could probably come up with all sorts of interesting tales. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/86 "2013-08-01T14:41:54Z")
Someone in the Aubrey-Maturin Facebook group just posted a link to a [Ship’s Bells](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.rathkopf.shipsbells) Android app: “This app rings or vibrates on the hour and half hour in a standard ship’s bells pattern.” I think this will amuse me for a while before it gets annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/87 "2013-08-01T16:23:42Z")
Then you can consign your phone to the briny deep. Just be sure to file the proper report with the Admiralty when you next make port. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/88 "2013-08-01T16:31:23Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > Someone in the Aubrey-Maturin Facebook group just posted a link to a [Ship’s Bells](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.rathkopf.shipsbells) Android app: “This app rings or vibrates on the hour and half hour in a standard ship’s bells pattern.” > > I think this will amuse me for a while before it gets annoying. One of my co-workers has been using that or a similar one for awhile. He loves it, ex-Navy-at-one-time-wannabe-careerist that he is. For me it moved from amusing to slightly annoying much more quickly :D. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/89 "2013-08-01T17:15:40Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > Someone in the Aubrey-Maturin Facebook group just posted a link to a [Ship’s Bells](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.rathkopf.shipsbells) Android app: “This app rings or vibrates on the hour and half hour in a standard ship’s bells pattern.” > > I think this will amuse me for a while before it gets annoying. How does it work for the dog watches? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/90 "2013-08-01T17:21:04Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > Tame. or dancing, bears were apparently a somewhat known thing in Europe, even into the [21st century.](http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/environ/1181970006.56) But how Jack could successfully fool crowds of onlookers, including some officers and soldiers who were looking for an escaped Englishman (him) stretches the point a little. They were only foreigners. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/91 "2013-08-01T17:34:15Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > They were only foreigners. > > 🙂 Exactly what Jack would say!! 🙂 BTW, I have a ship’s bells app on my iPhone. The one I have has a “mute” option, so mine is muted from 10PM to 6AM. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/92 "2013-08-01T17:52:52Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > How does it work for the dog watches? I don’t know, it doesn’t specify and I only installed it this morning. It has a nice little bell ring sound. There’s an iphone app of the same name which has an option to choose between British and Standard, and I saw some comments that indicated that the British setting has dog watches. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/93 "2013-08-01T18:03:40Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > Exactly what Jack would say!! 🙂 Goldilocks and I agree on my things political. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/94 "2013-08-01T20:14:07Z")
Too bad O’brian died…what would become of Capt. Jack Aubrey? The Napoleonic Wars are over, and the Royal Navy has more officers than it needs. Would Jack resign his commission and become a merchant captain? Or become a polar explorer (like his contemporary, Sir John Franklin)? I wonder if anyone will take over hte series…it could be interesting. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/95 "2013-08-01T20:25:06Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Too bad O’brian died…what would become of Capt. Jack Aubrey? The Napoleonic Wars are over, and the Royal Navy has more officers than it needs. Would Jack resign his commission and become a merchant captain? Or become a polar explorer (like his contemporary, Sir John Franklin)? > I wonder if anyone will take over hte series…it could be interesting. He had his flag. I don’t know if Admirals get put on half pay or not. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/96 "2013-08-01T21:44:14Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > How does it work for the dog watches? Do you know why they’re called dog watches? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/97 "2013-08-01T22:01:09Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Do you know why they’re called dog watches? Because they are cur-tailed. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/98 "2013-08-01T22:38:15Z")
Yup ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/99 "2013-08-01T22:44:50Z")
Well, you have made your cake, and you must lie in it. Wait… ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2013, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/master-commander-the-book-question-whats-a-prize-agent/663702/100 "2013-08-01T23:12:11Z")
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