Captains have the right to set liberty times for their crews. They can have the entire crew return at a certain time or allow different ranks more time out on the town. Some were very liberal with liberty, others were harsh. A sundowner would be the second worse type of captain. The worst is a captain who does not allow liberty. For that captain I cannot put any names down, since this is a family site.

A sundowner was the type of captain who required his crew to be back on the ship by sundown. This could be very disheartening for many crew members since we all know the best fu happens in the dark of night. Sundowners mostly did this when the ship was sailing the next morning. They wanted the crew fresh and fairly rested, not hung over.

Sailing ships were at the whim of the winds and the tides. Tidal charts were fairly accurate, however winds were not. So if the sip had to wait for sailors to return from liberty, the ship may or may not sail on time. This of course would be bad for the captain. So having the crew back on the ship on time was very important.