User blog comment:Master Sima Yi/Assassinews 03-03-'13 — Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag trailer and screenshots/@comment-4829046-20130307034904/@comment-4636255-20130307123500

1. Killing a Captain demoralises the crew. 2. In a Templar ship, the Captain is probably the only real Templar (mayb First-Mate as well), so killing him first saves the lives of his crew who weren't Templars.