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Boatswain

January 26, 2023

This article is about a seafaring occupation. For other uses, see Boatswain (disambiguation).

A boatswain (/ˈboʊsən/ BOH-sən, formerly and dialectally also /ˈboʊtsweɪn/ BOHT-swayn), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull. The boatswain supervises the other members of the ship's deck department, and typically is not a watchstander, except on vessels with small crews. Additional duties vary depending upon ship, crew, and circumstances.

Boatswain
The boatswain aboard a US merchant ship stands cargo watch as freight is lowered into an open hatch, c.1981
General
Other namesBosun
Deck Boss
Petty Officer
Chief rate
DepartmentDeck department
LicensedNo
RequirementsTypically, able seaman certificate
Watchstanding
Watch (at sea)On smaller vessels (varies)
Watch (in port)On smaller vessels (varies)

History

 
Boatswain of the Royal Navy, c. 1820

The word boatswain has been in the English language since approximately 1450. It is derived from late Old English batswegen, from bat (boat) concatenated with Old Norse sveinn (swain), meaning a young man, apprentice, a follower, retainer or servant. Directly translated to modern Norwegian it would be båtsvenn, while the actual crew title in Norwegian is båtsmann ("boats-man"). While the phonetic spelling bosun is reported as having been observed since 1868,[1] this latter spelling was used in Shakespeare's The Tempest written in 1611, and as bos'n in later editions.[citation needed]

Royal Navy

The rank of boatswain is the oldest rank in the Royal Navy, and its origins can be traced back to the year 1040.[2] In that year, when five English ports began furnishing warships to King Edward the Confessor in exchange for certain privileges, they also furnished crews whose officers were the master, boatswain, carpenter, and cook.[3] Later these officers were warranted by the British Admiralty. They maintained and sailed the ships and were the standing officers of the navy.[3] The boatswain was the officer responsible for the care of the rigging, cordage, anchors, sails, boats, flags and other stores.[citation needed]

The Royal Navy's last official boatswain, Commander E.W. Andrew OBE, retired in 1990.[2] However, most RN vessels still have a Chief Boatswain's Mate (or "Buffer"), who is the most senior rating in the Seaman Specialist department.[citation needed]

Naval cadets

The rank of cadet boatswain, in some schools, is the second highest rank in the combined cadet force naval section that a cadet can attain, below the rank of coxswain and above the rank of leading hand. It is equivalent to the rank of colour sergeant in the army and the royal marines cadets; it is sometimes an appointment for a senior petty officer to assist a coxswain.[citation needed]

Job description

 
Boatswain of Felix von Luckners yacht Seeteufel, smoking a pipe and hosing the vessel's deck

The boatswain works in a ship's deck department as the foreman of the unlicensed (crew members without a mate's licence) deck crew. Sometimes, the boatswain is also a third or fourth mate.[4] A boatswain must be highly skilled in all matters of marlinespike seamanship required for working on deck of a seagoing vessel. The boatswain is distinguished from other able seamen by the supervisory roles: planning, scheduling, and assigning work.[5]

As deck crew foreman, the boatswain plans the day's work and assigns tasks to the deck crew. As work is completed, the boatswain checks on completed work for compliance with approved operating procedures.[5]

Outside the supervisory role, the boatswain regularly inspects the vessel and performs a variety of routine, skilled, and semi-skilled duties to maintain all areas of the ship not maintained by the engine department. These duties can include cleaning, painting, and maintaining the vessel's hull, superstructure and deck equipment as well as executing a formal preventive maintenance program.[5] A boatswain's skills may include cargo rigging, winch operations, deck maintenance, working aloft, and other duties required during deck operations. The boatswain is well versed in the care and handling of lines, and has knowledge of knots, hitches, bends, whipping, and splices as needed to perform tasks such as mooring a vessel. The boatswain typically operates the ship's windlasses when letting go and heaving up anchors. Moreover, a boatswain may be called upon to lead firefighting efforts or other emergency procedures encountered on board. Effective boatswains are able to integrate their seafarer skills into supervising and communicating with members of deck crew with often diverse backgrounds.[5]

Originally, on board sailing ships the boatswain was in charge of a ship's anchors, cordage, colours, deck crew and the ship's boats. The boatswain would also be in charge of the rigging while the ship was in dock. The boatswain's technical tasks were modernised with the advent of steam engines and subsequent mechanisation.[4]

A boatswain also is responsible for doing routine pipes using what is called a boatswain's call. There are specific sounds which can be made with the pipe to indicate various events, such as emergency situations or notifications of meal time.[citation needed]

Notable boatswains

A number of boatswains and naval boatswains mates have achieved fame. Reuben James and William Wiley are famous for their heroism in the Barbary Wars and are namesakes of the ships USS Reuben James and USS Wiley.[6][7] Medal of Honor recipients Francis P. Hammerberg[8] and George Robert Cholister[9] were U.S. Navy boatswain's mates, as was Navy Cross recipient Stephen Bass.[10] Victoria Cross recipients John Sheppard, John Sullivan, Henry Curtis, and John Harrison were Royal Navy boatswain's mates.

During World War II Bosun John Crisp RN is credited in "The Colditz Story" by escapee Pat Reid as providing, whilst a prisoner of war at Oflag IV-C, Colditz Castle, the expertise and enthusiasm to manufacture torn and then woven "bedsheet ropes", tested for appropriate strength, using his extensive maritime experience.

There are also a handful of boatswains and boatswain's mates in literature. The boatswain in William Shakespeare's The Tempest is a central character in the opening scene, which takes place aboard a ship at sea, and appears again briefly in the final scene. Typhoon by Joseph Conrad has a nameless boatswain who tells Captain MacWhirr of a "lump" of men going overboard during the peak of the storm. Also, the character Bill Bobstay in Gilbert and Sullivan's musical comedy H.M.S. Pinafore is alternatively referred to as a "bos'un"[11] and a "boatswain's mate".[12] Another boatswain from literature is Smee from Peter Pan.[13] Lord Byron had a Newfoundland dog named Boatswain.[14] Byron wrote the famous poem "Epitaph to a Dog" and had a monument made for him at Newstead Abbey.[14] The 1907 naval gothic novel The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" by William Hope Hodgson features the character of the ship's “bo'sun” as an important member of the crew and a personal friend to the narrator.[15]

Billy Bones was a boatswain in the fictional Starz TV show Black Sails.

Scouting

Quartermaster is the highest rank in the Sea Scouts, BSA, an older youth (13–21) co-ed programme. The youth can also elect a youth leader, giving that youth the title "boatswain". In the Netherlands, a boatswain (Bootsman) is the patrol leader of a Sea Scout patrol (Bak); in Flanders, it is the assistant patrol leader of a Sea Scout patrol (Kwartier).[citation needed]

See also

Notes

This article incorporates text from public-domain sources, including

  1. ^ "Boatswain". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  2. ^ a b . royalnavy.mod.uk. Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 2007-01-13. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
  3. ^ a b . Naval Historical Center. United States Navy. 2005-07-20. Archived from the original on 1998-07-03. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
  4. ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Boatswain" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 100.
  5. ^ a b c d Oregon University System, 2004
  6. ^ . USS Reuben James Official Website. Archived from the original on 2007-05-09. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
  7. ^ Naval Historical Center (1981). . Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 2007-11-14. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
  8. ^ Naval Historical Center (1981). . Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 2010-12-07. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
  9. ^ Naval Historical Center (1997). . Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Archived from the original on 1997-07-09. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
  10. ^ "CPO Stephen Bass, U.S.N." LegionOfValor.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-07. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
  11. ^ See quote from "The Complete Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan" at .
  12. ^ See quote from S.W. Gilbert in "The story of the H.M.S. Pinafore" at .
  13. ^ J M Barrie (December 27, 1904). "Act II: The Never Land". Peter Pan or The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up. Retrieved 2007-05-27 – via Project Gutenberg.
  14. ^ a b Clinton, George (1828). Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Lord Byron. London: James Robbins and Company. pp. 8. Retrieved 2007-05-27. Boatswain.
  15. ^ The boats of the "Glen Carrig" by William Hope Hodgeson, 1907.

References

  • Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S.A.) (2007). (PDF). Occupational Outlook Handbook. Government Printing Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2000-08-31. Retrieved 2007-04-23.
  • Hayler, William B. (2003). American Merchant Seaman's Manual. Cornell Maritime Press. ISBN 0-87033-549-9.
  • McLeod, William Reynolds (2000). The Boatswain's Manual. Glasgow: Brown, Son and. ISBN 0-85174-679-9.
  • Oregon University System (2004). . Position Descriptions. Oregon University System. Archived from the original on 2008-03-27. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
  • United States Naval Institute (1996) [1902]. The Bluejackets' Manual (21st ed.). Annapolis, MD: United States Naval Institute. ISBN 1-55750-050-9.
  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (2003). . Position Descriptions. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Archived from the original on 2008-02-27. Retrieved 2008-04-28.

External links

  •   The dictionary definition of boatswain at Wiktionary
  •   Media related to Able Seaman (occupation) at Wikimedia Commons
  • CorPun website on corporal punishments
  • Boatswain at OccupationalInfo.org
  • International Labour Organization (5 December 2000). "Seaman, Merchant Marine". International Hazard Datasheets on Occupation. Retrieved 26 May 2007.

January 26, 2023
boatswain, this, article, about, seafaring, occupation, other, uses, disambiguation, boatswain, sən, formerly, dialectally, also, boht, swayn, bosun, also, known, deck, boss, qualified, member, deck, department, most, senior, rate, deck, department, responsibl. This article is about a seafaring occupation For other uses see Boatswain disambiguation A boatswain ˈ b oʊ s en BOH sen formerly and dialectally also ˈ b oʊ t s w eɪ n BOHT swayn bo s n bos n or bosun also known as a deck boss or a qualified member of the deck department is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship s hull The boatswain supervises the other members of the ship s deck department and typically is not a watchstander except on vessels with small crews Additional duties vary depending upon ship crew and circumstances BoatswainThe boatswain aboard a US merchant ship stands cargo watch as freight is lowered into an open hatch c 1981GeneralOther namesBosunDeck BossPetty OfficerChief rateDepartmentDeck departmentLicensedNoRequirementsTypically able seaman certificateWatchstandingWatch at sea On smaller vessels varies Watch in port On smaller vessels varies Contents 1 History 1 1 Royal Navy 2 Naval cadets 3 Job description 4 Notable boatswains 5 Scouting 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 External linksHistory Edit Boatswain of the Royal Navy c 1820 The word boatswain has been in the English language since approximately 1450 It is derived from late Old English batswegen from bat boat concatenated with Old Norse sveinn swain meaning a young man apprentice a follower retainer or servant Directly translated to modern Norwegian it would be batsvenn while the actual crew title in Norwegian is batsmann boats man While the phonetic spelling bosun is reported as having been observed since 1868 1 this latter spelling was used in Shakespeare s The Tempest written in 1611 and as bos n in later editions citation needed Royal Navy Edit The rank of boatswain is the oldest rank in the Royal Navy and its origins can be traced back to the year 1040 2 In that year when five English ports began furnishing warships to King Edward the Confessor in exchange for certain privileges they also furnished crews whose officers were the master boatswain carpenter and cook 3 Later these officers were warranted by the British Admiralty They maintained and sailed the ships and were the standing officers of the navy 3 The boatswain was the officer responsible for the care of the rigging cordage anchors sails boats flags and other stores citation needed The Royal Navy s last official boatswain Commander E W Andrew OBE retired in 1990 2 However most RN vessels still have a Chief Boatswain s Mate or Buffer who is the most senior rating in the Seaman Specialist department citation needed Naval cadets EditThe rank of cadet boatswain in some schools is the second highest rank in the combined cadet force naval section that a cadet can attain below the rank of coxswain and above the rank of leading hand It is equivalent to the rank of colour sergeant in the army and the royal marines cadets it is sometimes an appointment for a senior petty officer to assist a coxswain citation needed Job description Edit Boatswain of Felix von Luckners yacht Seeteufel smoking a pipe and hosing the vessel s deck The boatswain works in a ship s deck department as the foreman of the unlicensed crew members without a mate s licence deck crew Sometimes the boatswain is also a third or fourth mate 4 A boatswain must be highly skilled in all matters of marlinespike seamanship required for working on deck of a seagoing vessel The boatswain is distinguished from other able seamen by the supervisory roles planning scheduling and assigning work 5 As deck crew foreman the boatswain plans the day s work and assigns tasks to the deck crew As work is completed the boatswain checks on completed work for compliance with approved operating procedures 5 Outside the supervisory role the boatswain regularly inspects the vessel and performs a variety of routine skilled and semi skilled duties to maintain all areas of the ship not maintained by the engine department These duties can include cleaning painting and maintaining the vessel s hull superstructure and deck equipment as well as executing a formal preventive maintenance program 5 A boatswain s skills may include cargo rigging winch operations deck maintenance working aloft and other duties required during deck operations The boatswain is well versed in the care and handling of lines and has knowledge of knots hitches bends whipping and splices as needed to perform tasks such as mooring a vessel The boatswain typically operates the ship s windlasses when letting go and heaving up anchors Moreover a boatswain may be called upon to lead firefighting efforts or other emergency procedures encountered on board Effective boatswains are able to integrate their seafarer skills into supervising and communicating with members of deck crew with often diverse backgrounds 5 Originally on board sailing ships the boatswain was in charge of a ship s anchors cordage colours deck crew and the ship s boats The boatswain would also be in charge of the rigging while the ship was in dock The boatswain s technical tasks were modernised with the advent of steam engines and subsequent mechanisation 4 A boatswain also is responsible for doing routine pipes using what is called a boatswain s call There are specific sounds which can be made with the pipe to indicate various events such as emergency situations or notifications of meal time citation needed Notable boatswains EditThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Boatswain news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message A number of boatswains and naval boatswains mates have achieved fame Reuben James and William Wiley are famous for their heroism in the Barbary Wars and are namesakes of the ships USS Reuben James and USS Wiley 6 7 Medal of Honor recipients Francis P Hammerberg 8 and George Robert Cholister 9 were U S Navy boatswain s mates as was Navy Cross recipient Stephen Bass 10 Victoria Cross recipients John Sheppard John Sullivan Henry Curtis and John Harrison were Royal Navy boatswain s mates During World War II Bosun John Crisp RN is credited in The Colditz Story by escapee Pat Reid as providing whilst a prisoner of war at Oflag IV C Colditz Castle the expertise and enthusiasm to manufacture torn and then woven bedsheet ropes tested for appropriate strength using his extensive maritime experience There are also a handful of boatswains and boatswain s mates in literature The boatswain in William Shakespeare s The Tempest is a central character in the opening scene which takes place aboard a ship at sea and appears again briefly in the final scene Typhoon by Joseph Conrad has a nameless boatswain who tells Captain MacWhirr of a lump of men going overboard during the peak of the storm Also the character Bill Bobstay in Gilbert and Sullivan s musical comedy H M S Pinafore is alternatively referred to as a bos un 11 and a boatswain s mate 12 Another boatswain from literature is Smee from Peter Pan 13 Lord Byron had a Newfoundland dog named Boatswain 14 Byron wrote the famous poem Epitaph to a Dog and had a monument made for him at Newstead Abbey 14 The 1907 naval gothic novel The Boats of the Glen Carrig by William Hope Hodgson features the character of the ship s bo sun as an important member of the crew and a personal friend to the narrator 15 Billy Bones was a boatswain in the fictional Starz TV show Black Sails Scouting EditQuartermaster is the highest rank in the Sea Scouts BSA an older youth 13 21 co ed programme The youth can also elect a youth leader giving that youth the title boatswain In the Netherlands a boatswain Bootsman is the patrol leader of a Sea Scout patrol Bak in Flanders it is the assistant patrol leader of a Sea Scout patrol Kwartier citation needed See also Edit Transport portalBoatswain s mate United States Coast Guard Boatswain s mate United States Navy Bootsmann Bosun s chair Buffer navy Deck department Merchant Navy United Kingdom Seafarer s professions and ranks Serang disambiguation Ship transport United States Merchant MarineNotes EditThis article incorporates text from public domain sources including websites For specific sources of text see notes Boatswain Online Etymology Dictionary Retrieved 2007 05 25 a b HMS Victory royalnavy mod uk Royal Navy Archived from the original on 2007 01 13 Retrieved 2007 05 26 a b Why is the colonel called kernal The origin of the ranks and rank insignia now used by the United States Armed Forces Naval Historical Center United States Navy 2005 07 20 Archived from the original on 1998 07 03 Retrieved 2007 05 26 a b Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Boatswain Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 4 11th ed Cambridge University Press p 100 a b c d Oregon University System 2004 Ship s Namesake USS Reuben James Official Website Archived from the original on 2007 05 09 Retrieved 2007 05 26 Naval Historical Center 1981 Wiley Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships United States Navy Archived from the original on 2007 11 14 Retrieved 2007 05 26 Naval Historical Center 1981 Hammerberg Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships United States Navy Archived from the original on 2010 12 07 Retrieved 2007 05 26 Naval Historical Center 1997 Navy Medal of Honor Interim Period 1920 1940 Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships United States Navy Archived from the original on 1997 07 09 Retrieved 2007 05 26 CPO Stephen Bass U S N LegionOfValor com Archived from the original on 2012 09 07 Retrieved 2007 05 26 See quote from The Complete Annotated Gilbert amp Sullivan at 1 See quote from S W Gilbert in The story of the H M S Pinafore at 2 J M Barrie December 27 1904 Act II The Never Land Peter Pan or The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up Retrieved 2007 05 27 via Project Gutenberg a b Clinton George 1828 Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Lord Byron London James Robbins and Company pp 8 Retrieved 2007 05 27 Boatswain The boats of the Glen Carrig by William Hope Hodgeson 1907 References EditBureau of Labor Statistics U S A 2007 Water Transportation Occupations PDF Occupational Outlook Handbook Government Printing Office Archived from the original PDF on 2000 08 31 Retrieved 2007 04 23 Hayler William B 2003 American Merchant Seaman s Manual Cornell Maritime Press ISBN 0 87033 549 9 McLeod William Reynolds 2000 The Boatswain s Manual Glasgow Brown Son and ISBN 0 85174 679 9 Oregon University System 2004 Classification Number 4512 Boatswain Position Descriptions Oregon University System Archived from the original on 2008 03 27 Retrieved 2008 04 28 United States Naval Institute 1996 1902 The Bluejackets Manual 21st ed Annapolis MD United States Naval Institute ISBN 1 55750 050 9 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 2003 Boatswain Position Descriptions Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Archived from the original on 2008 02 27 Retrieved 2008 04 28 External links Edit The dictionary definition of boatswain at Wiktionary Media related to Able Seaman occupation at Wikimedia Commons CorPun website on corporal punishments Boatswain at OccupationalInfo org International Labour Organization 5 December 2000 Seaman Merchant Marine International Hazard Datasheets on Occupation Retrieved 26 May 2007 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Boatswain amp oldid 1097381637, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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