First Mate

A First Mate is the top officer on board a ship after the captain. Mostly, they may fill a number of roles from checking stock to making sure everyone else is doing their job on the ship. They answer only to one person on a ship, the captain.

Essentially, the first mate is the one officer the captain must put full trust in and pick carefully. They are the captain's right-hand man and if the captain is not at hand on the ship or is otherwise incapacitated, the first mate is the next in line to take over the captain's job. In history there were a few incidents where the first mate killed the captain to take his role, cases like these were rare but not unheard of.

The first mate's mainly responsible for the vessel's stability and cargo operations. They supervise the crew and are also responsible for the safety and security of the ship, as well as the welfare of everyone on board. Additional duties include maintenance of the ship's hull, cargo gears, accommodations, the life-saving and the firefighting appliances. The first mate also trains the crew on various aspects like safety, firefighting, search-and-rescue, and various other contingencies.

On most vessels, the Chief Officer and First Officer (or First Mate) are synonymous, but passenger vessels often carry a separate First Officer who is junior to the Chief Officer.

One Piece
Most pirate crews have a first mate. From the Buggy Pirates to the Red Haired Pirates this crew role is a common sight. While the captain is regarded as the strongest crew member, the first mate is regarded as the captain's champion, or their crew's second strongest, so to speak. Indeed, Rayleigh, Beckman, Mohji, Jango, Sarkies, and Corto are all considered to be the second most powerful among their respective crews, just under their captains. Okome is the only first mate whose strength cannot be compared due to his captain's absence in the series.

Commanders and Officers
There are some cases where larger crews have used other systems of management such as the "Division" Commander (隊長) rank used in the Krieg Pirates and Whitebeard Pirates, likely as a result of the sheer size of the crews. Others, like the Arlong Pirates, New Fishman Pirates and Donquixote Pirates, use the rank "Officer" (幹部) to allow these higher-ranking members to command the lower-ranking ones without the need to separate into "divisions"; similar to having multiple first mates. In the case of the Donquixote Pirates, they also have four "Top Executives" (最高幹部), ranking over the eleven other officers.

Trivia

 * In One Piece Yellow: Grand Elements, Roronoa Zoro is referred to as being "like the vice captain".

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