Top 10 Famous Fictional Sailors

1. Popeye the Sailor Man
2. ‘Captain’ Jack Sparrow
3. Captain Jack Aubrey
4. Horatio Hornblower
5. Robinson Crusoe
6. Jason and the Argonauts
7. Sinbad
8. Captain Ron
9. Captain Nemo
10. Captain Hook

In researching famous sailors, I discovered that a few of the sailors I thought were real were actually fictional and one that I thought was fictional has recently been shown to be real. For example, Ulysses (aka Odysseus), the first sailor to appear in a work of fiction is now thought to have been a real king whose palace has recently been discovered. Robinson Crusoe, who I thought was a real shipwrecked sailor, turns out to be a fictional character.  Oh well.

We actually identified 16 famous fictional sailors but decided to leave out Davy Jones (of Locker fame), Captain Ahab (Moby Dick), Captain Charlie Allnut (African Queen), Gilligan (ss Minnow), Captain Blood (Errol Flynn), and Charles Marlow (steamboat captain in Heart of Darkness) as being somewhat less well known than the top 10. 

Do you agree with our selections? Have any to add?  Send us a note. We’ll keep tabs. 

Further Reading

• Sailors who ski, and skiers who sail
• The Darker Side of Cruising
• Ten Tips for Voyaging Inexpensively
• A beer drinkers’ guide to the Atlantic Circuit
• The number one maintenance task on our boat: a sense of humor
• A Match Made in Heaven