Way back in the late 1600’s a sea captain was sailing his ship through the Caribbean along with his crew when a pirate ship came over the horizon.
Well, he wouldn’t get far sailing his ship without his crew would he, but anyway, back to the joke…
On seeing the pirate ship heading towards them, the captain said to the cabin boy, “Tom, get me my red shirt”.
Juat a thought… in stories about sailing ships, why is the cabin boy always called Tom? Sorry, I’m digressing again, back to the joke…
So, the sea captain puts on his red shirt, the pirate ship came closer and closer, cannons fired and after a couple of broadsides they were victorious and the pirate ship began to sink.
Several days later, they spot another pirate ship off the port bow. “Tom”, the captain said to the cabin boy, “get me my red shirt”.
So the captain put his red shirt on again, the pirate ship positioned itself for battle and at the last minute, the sea captain turned his ship and gave them a tremendous broadside, bringing down their main mast, causing the ship to keel over and sink. Another great victory for the sea captain while wearing his red shirt.
Later when things had settled down, the cabin boy asked him, “Captain, why do you always want your red shirt just prior to battle?”
The captain responded, “Well young Tom, in case I am inflicted with a wound, I don’t want the crew to see my injury and lose spirit, I want them to keep fighting on and win the battle”.
“I see captain”, the cabin boy said, nodding in agreement.
A few days later, they sighted three pirate ships in the distance, sailing rapidly towards them.
The captain yelled out to the cabin boy, “Young Tom, get me my brown pants”.
Image used under a Collective Commons License from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pirates,_Roman_Polanski,_boat_Genova_2.jpg
