The US Navy has a long history of expensive crew with multiple functions, and here's another one. At least Commodore Stern isn't another Montana Mays.

The Captain ability normally costs 3 points, the +1 board goes for 4, and the extra action is usually worth 6, so Stern's 9-point cost is quite a bargain if you use all his talents. He can certainly turn any American gunship into a terror. He'll also be a magnet for enemy crew like Bonny Peel and Aruj Barbarossa, who steal your most expensive crew for ransom if they win a boarding action. And if he gets eliminated, nine points is a lot to lose. So put him on a many-masted ship that won't lose its boarding actions, and put a crew-protector like Hacksaw Riley (or the OE Montana Mays) on board as well. Then use him aggressively, or you'll never get your nine points' worth out of him.

Gold Crew rating: 1.5 / 5
Gun Crew rating: 4.2 / 5
Boarding rating: 3.8 / 5
Value for points: 4.6 / 5
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Name: Capitaine Baudouin Deleflote (France)
Card: SS #013 (Rare)
Points: 9
Link : L'epee de L'ange
Ability: Captain. Instead of giving this ship an action this turn, you can give another ship in your fleet two actions.

For years, the ability to give another ship a second action happened only if you rolled a 6 first. With new crew like Deleflote (and the English Lord Mycron), you get that ability at will, in exchange for your own ship's action, for the same point cost. That's a winning deal in my book.

Unlike Mycron, the Capitaine also gives his own ship a move/shoot, which takes him out of the "support crew" category and puts him in the category of "crew that are going to get shot at." His high cost means you have to put him on a fairly expensive ship, which makes it even more likely that he'll be in the line of fire. Because his extra-action ability is his most valuable talent, you might be better off keeping him safe, and thus wasting the 3 points you paid for the move/shoot. That's not a winning deal in my book. His linked ship is a mediocre four-master with the badly overpriced "guns still shoot from eliminated masts"
ability; forget about her.

In the end, you'll have to decide how best to use Deleflote. Do you preserve him and his high cost, and get no value from 1/3 of his points?
Or do you get full value out of him in the front lines, and risk losing him to some wimpy little boat like the Royal James that costs less than he does, but which kills a crew with a hit once per turn? The extra action he gives may help to keep him safe in battle, or maybe not. It's your call.

Gold Crew rating: 2.0 / 5
Gun Crew rating: 3.9 / 5
Boarding rating: 3.6 / 5
Value for points: 3.0 / 5