CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Ship, captain, and crew

dice game also known as Ship of Fools

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 24, 2025
Entity authorityQ7497909 ↗
Source-derived summary

Ship, Captain, and Crew (also referred to as Cap'n, Bos'n, Mate; Ship of Fools; Clickety Clack; 6-5-4 or Destroyer) is a drinking game played with five dice. The game can be played with as few as two people but is usually played in a group of five or more. The object of the game is to roll a six (the "ship"), a five ("captain"), and a four ("crew") with three dice, and get the highest score with the other two dice ("the ship's cargo"). In other versions, a four is the "mate" and the remaining dice are the crew.

Alternatively, the game may be played for antes placed in a pot. Any amount can be predetermined for ante to the pot for each round with winner taking all or the pot going forward in the case of a tie.

Rules

Each player starts their turn by rolling five dice. They are attempting to roll a six, five and four in descending order, and whenever the number they require is rolled, they "bank" it by setting it aside.

For example, if the first roll of the dice shows six, four, three, three, and one, the player banks the six but must reroll the four because there is no five yet. If their second roll is a six, five, four, and one, they may bank the five and four together, and now they have a full "crew" for their ship.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Ship, captain, and crew” as dice game also known as Ship of Fools. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current 238-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Ship, captain and crew can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as dice game also known as Ship of Fools. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 24, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7497909. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Ship, captain, and crew”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Ship, captain, and crew primary sources, Ship, captain, and crew archive and Ship research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ship, captain, and crew”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Ship, captain, and crew” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.