ship's company

plural ships' companies

1. nauticalThe entire crew of a ship, including the officers

   [T]he whole ship's company consisted of sixty-five men.

   1719, Daniel Defoe, chapter 10, in The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe

   3 more examples

   [T]he regulations enjoin the attendance of the entire ship's company, from the corpulent Captain himself to the smallest boy who strikes the bell.

   1850, Herman Melville, chapter 33, in White Jacket

   The Aries had a ship's company of twenty-four men, besides four passengers.

   1863 April 7, “The Prize Steamer Aries”, in New York Times, retrieved 03 Aug 2012

   Before the outgunned ship was overtaken and captured, a crewman was wounded, and he later died. The 82 other members of the ship's company underwent 11 months of brutal captivity.

   1988 December 25, “Pueblo's Veterans Look Back on '68 in Anger”, in New York Times, retrieved 03 Aug 2012

2. nonstandardpossiblynauticalAll of the occupants of a ship, including crew and passengers.

   The whole ship's company, captain, officers, quarter-masters, passengers, and all, were quite sure that she had succeeded in getting a promise of marriage from him.

   1879, Anthony Trollope, chapter 8, in John Caldigate