Shipmaster View

In the Royal Navy in the days of sail, "master" was often used as an abbreviation for the sailing master, the warrant officer responsible for the navigation and steering of the vessel. The position of sailing master was later commissioned and renamed the navigating officer. The navigating officer on a flagship, however, continued to be known as the master of the fleet until after the Second World War. This term and this charge on board naval ships is far and different from master mariner that is the officer or person qualified and designated to assume the command as captain aboard merchant ships.
• Skipper
A skipper is a person who has command of a boat or sea-craft or tug, more or less equivalent to "captain in charge aboard ship." At sea, the skipper as shipmaster or captain has the absolute command over the crew. The skipper may or may not be the owner of the boat.
The word is derived from the low German and Dutch word schipper; schip is Dutch for "ship". In Dutch sch- is pronounced sx and English-speakers rendered this as sk.