How officers and institutions shaped shipboard culture

How different would the culture of one age-of-sail or exploration ship be from another?

Ships in the same navy shared institutional habits, but officers and leading personalities gave each crew its own character.

Ships serving in the same navy would share training, discipline, language, and institutional expectations. Every age-of-sail or exploration vessel could still develop its own recognizable character. The captain, officers, and other leading personalities strongly influenced how the crew lived and worked together. Shipboard culture was the product of both a navy-wide system and the local command climate aboard one hull.