Army and Navy Uniforms and Insignia: How to Know Rank, Corps and Service in the Military and Naval Forces of the United States and Foreign CountriesWilliams, Dion
History
Army and Navy Uniforms and Insignia: How to Know Rank, Corps and Service in the Military and Naval Forces of the United States and Foreign Countries
Williams, Dion
Armies -- Insignia; Military uniforms; Navies -- Insignia; United States. Army -- Insignia; United States. Navy -- Insignia
Petty Officers in the Navy correspond to the noncommissioned officers
of the Army, and they are divided into three general Branches, the
Seaman Branch consisting of the deck force which mans the guns of the
battery and performs the strictly “sailor” duties; the Artificer Branch
composed of the engineering force, the electricians, the carpenters and
the painters; and the Special Branch made up of yeomen, or clerical
force, the commissary stewards, cooks and bakers, the hospital nurses
and the bandsmen.
As a rule the special duties of each of the Petty Officers are
indicated by their titles, or “ratings,” as it is styled in the Navy,
as given in the list on pages 37-40, but a few words of explanation may
not be amiss.
Masters-at-Arms are the policemen of the ship; boatswain’s mates are
the petty officers who assist the boatswain and see that the orders
of the officer of the deck are carried out in the different parts of
the ship; turret captains are the petty officers who have charge of
the turret guns crews under the Division Officer; gunner’s mates are
the petty officers who assist the gunner and see to the repairs of the
guns of the battery and have charge of the issue of powder and shell
from the magazines to the guns; gun captains are the petty officers
in charge of the individual gun crews; quartermasters are the petty
officers who stand the watch at the wheel and steer the ship under the
orders of the Officer of the Deck; machinist’s mates are the petty
officers on duty at the engines and machinery; water tenders see that
the proper amount of water is kept in the boilers, and the duties of
the other petty officers are as indicated by their “ratings.”
The ordinary enlisted men are apportioned to the three branches in the
same manner as the petty officers, the Seaman Branch having seamen
gunners especially trained for duty at the guns, seamen, ordinary
seamen and apprentice seamen under training; the Artificer Branch
having firemen who tend the fires under the boilers, coal passers who
transfer the coal from the bunkers to the firerooms and landsmen or
untrained men; and the Special Branch having the musicians of the band
and buglers, and the lower ratings of cooks, bakers and hospital men.
In the Marine Corps the commands considered appropriate for the
officers of the different grades are as follows:
COMMISSIONED OFFICERS
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account