Ordinary seaman (rating)

Ordinary seaman (rating)

In the Royal Navy in the middle of the 18th century, the term ordinary seaman was used to refer to a seaman with between one and two years' experience at sea, who showed enough seamanship to be so rated by their captain. A seaman with less than a year's experience was referred to as a landman, and one with more than two years' experience was referred to as an able seaman.

Later, the term was formalized as a rating for the lowest normal grade of seaman. They are not trained in any special task. They are required to work at physically hard tasks of great variety. One needs an Ordinary Seaman Certificate to obtain work. One can become an able seaman as a promotion from this position.

The term ordinary seaman is currently used in the Canadian and Irish Naval Forces (who inherited the military ranking structure from the previous generation of Royal Navy, Army, and Air Force ranks.) It denotes an enlistee who is currently in training as a non-commission member (NCM) of the Forces.

References

  • N.A.M. Roger. The Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy. W.W. Norton and Company, 1986.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ordinary seaman — This article is about a civilian occupation. For a military rank, see ordinary seaman (rating). Ordinary seaman Ordinary seamen swabbing the deck. General Department&# …   Wikipedia

  • Ordinary Seaman (rank) — In the Royal Navy in the middle of the 18th century, the term Ordinary Seaman was used to refer to a seaman with between one and two years experience at sea. A seaman with less than a year s experience was referred to as a Landman, and one with… …   Wikipedia

  • rating — n. classification limit 1) a high; low rating 2) a credit; efficiency; octane; power rating ordinary seaman (BE) 3) a naval rating * * * [ reɪtɪŋ] efficiency low rating octane power rating [ classification ] [ lim …   Combinatory dictionary

  • able seaman — 1. Also called able bodied seaman. an experienced deck department seaman qualified to perform routine sea duties. 2. (in the British Navy and on British and U.S. merchant ships) a rating between ordinary seaman and leading seaman or boatswain s… …   Universalium

  • able rating — able seaman, able bodied seaman or able rating, also (fem) able seawoman or able bodied seawoman noun A seaman able to perform all the duties of seamanship and having a higher rating than the ordinary sailor (abbrev AB) • • • Main Entry: ↑able …   Useful english dictionary

  • Naval rating — A Naval Rating is an enlisted member of a country s Navy, subordinate to Warrant Officers and Officers hence not conferred by commission or warrant. The term is generally used in reference to rank, whilst in the United States it is used… …   Wikipedia

  • P:BP — Projet:Maritime/Bistro du port « C est curieux chez les marins ce besoin de faire des phrases… » Maître Folace, dans Les Tontons flingueurs Sommaire 1 Août 1.1 Vieux gréements ou gréements …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Midshipman — This article is about the naval rank. For the fish, see midshipman fish. For the sports teams of the U.S. Naval Academy, see Navy Midshipmen. For the novel about Horatio Hornblower, see Mr. Midshipman Hornblower. Common anglophone military ranks… …   Wikipedia

  • Sailor — This article is about maritime crew. For other uses, see Sailor (disambiguation). Mariner redirects here. For other uses, see Mariner (disambiguation). Boatmen redirects here. It may also refer to a nickname for the Toronto Argonauts of the… …   Wikipedia

  • Admiralty Yard Craft Service — The Admiralty Yard Craft Service was the civilian service which operated auxiliary vessels for the British Admiralty, mainly in HM Dockyards or the vicinity. It was renamed the Port Auxiliary Service (PAS) between 1960 and 1962, and later the… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”