I Must Have The Gentleman To

This command is recorded in The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake (1628), drawn from the journals of the circumnavigation voyage (1577–1580). Sir Francis Drake issued the order during a command crisis on the voyage, asserting that social rank among his crew was irrelevant to shipboard duties — all hands were required to work together regardless of their status as gentlemen or common sailors. The statement was a direct rebuke of the tension between the "gentleman adventurers" who joined the expedition expecting command roles and the experienced mariners who actually sailed the ship.