Captain Haddock since creating Tintin." Sales of the volume in which Haddock was introduced indicated the character was well received. After a fairly serious role in "The Shooting Star", where he has risen to become the President of the Society of Sober Sailors (replete with a cabin full of rum), Haddock takes a more central role in the next adventure, split over two books, "The Secret of the Unicorn" and "Red Rackham's Treasure"— indeed, his family history drives the plot. Upon locating the treasure, the newly wealthy Haddock retires. Hergé built the next adventure around Haddock, furnishing the character with an ancestral
Nicholas Haddock of Barcelona in 1706. On 6 April 1707 he was promoted to the rank of captain and placed in command of the 42-gun fifth-rate HMS "Ludlow Castle". England was at war with France, and Haddock's orders were to hunt for enemy privateers. On 30 December he brought "Ludlow Castle" into range with two such vessels, "Nightingale" and "Squirrel", both former English merchantmen captured and refitted by the French. Haddock ordered that "Ludlow Castle" give chase, and was rewarded with the capture of "Nightingale". This vessel, Haddock's first prize ship, was returned to England along with her crew. Haddock was also