Curry Shaw was the captain of the ship Hannah and a minor character in Tales of the Peculiar. He and his ship are not fictional.
Tales of the Peculiar[]
The Boy Who Could Hold Back the Sea[]
The Hannah set sail on April 3, 1849 transporting Irish immigrants fleeing the famine, and at some point picked up Fergus. Shaw immediately wants Fergus thrown back into the sea as he has not paid for a ticket. Fergus offers to work for passage, and becomes Shaw's personal slave.
Having taken on too many passengers and not enough provisions, the passengers of the ship do not get good or enough food to eat to last the journey, while Shaw and his crew eat like kings. In late April, Fergus overhears that Shaw plans to first go to Pelt Island to pick up furs to deliver to New York, which would earn the crew more profits. This infuriates Fergus, as Shaw had told the passengers that the current route was a shortcut to America while actually stretching out the journey, almost guaranteeing the passengers' starvation.
Shaw and his first mate confront Fergus, but are interrupted by the ship hitting an iceberg and beginning to sink. Shaw and his men take the one lifeboat on board, abandoning the passengers. The Hannah's crew survives and reaches Pelt Island, and are discovered drunk in the tavern by the passengers who were saved by Fergus and a resident of the island. The passengers take their revenge on Shaw, beating him and his men, forcing them to flee into the snowy hills above the town. It is there that Fergus encounters Shaw and the first mate one last time, with Shaw near death.
Personality[]
Shaw is described as cruel, greedy, and ruthless. He was an inexperienced captain who was already despised even before the Hannah's sinking.