RUIM mod questions.
 

I finally have the game where I want it. The crew uniforms are RUIM. When in port I was offered a new crew member with special capabilities. when I tried to insert him into a compartment, I got a message saying too many officers. I could not activate the crewman into the game. What did I do incorrectly? How do I activate the crew with special abilities? If the crewman was an officer, do you have to wait until a serving officer is killed to make space for the replacement with special abilities?

How do I keep track of a crewman's performance over time?

In port you are given the option of adding and deleting crew, what are the criteria? When can you and when are not allowed to add or delete crew?

you have to let an officer go, but ensign's are "officers" too, so just knock out one of those guys

and crew below the ensign are free, but when you wanna get an ensign or officer, depending on the ensign's/officer's skill, they can end up costing a lot of renown

Most special officers work it they're in the right compartment. You can see the light change. However, many of them don't work unless you activate them. Should be a icon with a sailor in it, but it's the icon for special abilities. Click on that and you will see icons for each special officer you have. You have to click them on for their ability to work. Some only work for a time period, so use them when needed.

I think Sledge covered the rest. Not having a boat of officers is realistic anyway. You also want to be careful letting experience officers go. Many of them will gain special abilities after promotions, medals or just time on boat....That way you don't have to pay for it.

Crewmen that are in the ranks of "Petty Officer" ARE enlisted men and they cost renown. You are limited to the number of "Officers", and in some mods, you are limited in the number of "Enlisted Men" that you can have at any point in time.