- Bosun is a colloquialism derived from Boatswain the formal spelling of the word, both stem from English word, Batswegen.
- The batswagen was a boy or follower of the boat and generally considered to be more of a servant than a crew member.
- Today, the bosun has become an integral part of a ship’s crew — directing, organizing and coordinating the work and duties of the deck force.
- The bosun’s mate is the oldest rate in the U.S. Navy in use in 1775 and formally established in 1797.
David G. Sellars a Port Angeles resident wrote for Peninsula Daily News to talk about what bosuns are and what they do.
What happened with K. Asian Beauty?
Early last week, K. Asian Beauty, a 604-foot car carrier with a 98-foot beam, anchored in the west end of the harbor. The Panamanian-flagged vessel had a mechanical issue and the crew was looking for a safe harbor to make repairs.
Friday morning, the ship moored to the Port of Port Angeles’ terminal one. A crane was required to hoist a piece of needed equipment aboard the ship. Once the task was completed the vessel moved back out to anchorage to wrap up the repairs.
Cable Innovator
Cable Innovator, the 477-foot cable layer had been moored to terminal one for the last month. She got underway at 7 a.m. on Friday morning for her customary berth in Victoria from where she responds to emergency requests to repair fiber optic cables that stretch from the west coast to Asia along the ocean floor for various telecom companies. The ship is expected to be seen in Port Angeles in the near future.
Polar Resolution and Others
On the 20th January, Polar Resolution was to moor to terminal one for three days while Vigor Industrial performed a myriad of maintenance tasks on the crude oil tanker that is an integral part of the Conoco Phillips Fleet.
On Thursday the 17th January, the fully loaded log barge Z Big One came into the harbor, made her way to the west end of the harbor and then reversed course and hung out more in the middle of the harbor. She, too, was only looking to get in out of the weather.
Tesoro petroleum
On January 16th, Tesoro petroleum provided bunkers to Ocean Venture, a 656-foot bulk cargo ship that is flagged in Hong Kong. Tesoro refueled Medi Brisbane, which is also a 656-foot bulk cargo ship; she is flagged in Panama, the next day. That evening, HMS 2000 Tesoros’ refueling barge was taken to a shipyard in Vancouver, B.C. where she would spend time in dry dock undergoing a routine 5-year inspection. It is possible that she may get a little paint splashed on her. Maintenance work will be done on the crane and a new generator will be installed. The barge, which has a load capacity of 735,00 gallons, should be back in service on February 4th.
The Servant
“I have often been asked, ‘What is a bosun and what do they do?'”, says David, former Navy boatswain’s mate. The term “bosun” is a colloquialism derived from “boatswain,” which is the formal spelling of the word. Both words stem from a much older English word, batswegen. The batswagen was a boy or follower of the boat and generally considered to be more of a servant than a crew member. The function of the job evolved with the word, which turned into boatswain in the late 1400s.
The Boatswain
Gradually, the pronunciation of the word changed, and the spelling began to reflect that: Sailors use the spelling of “bosun” to refer to boatswains. In fact, if you look up boatswain up in the dictionary, most of them will have the pronunciation as bosun.
Present Day Role
Today, the bosun is an integral part of a ship’s crew — directing, organizing and coordinating the work and duties of the deck force. Bosun’s mates and the deck crew of a naval ship are responsible for all topside spaces from the waterline to the bridge with the exception of weapon systems, communication systems, radar, and the signal bridge. They also operate and maintain the boats aboard ship, including running liberty boats when a ship is at anchor and transporting the captain of the ship aboard his gig.
The Ship’s Pied Piper
At one time, bosun’s mates relied on a bosun’s pipe to relay orders to the deck crew. The sound could be clearly heard over other noises on a busy ship, and in some navies, whistling by the crew was forbidden to avoid confusion.
In the modern navies, the bosun’s pipe is used in formal ceremonies and piping senior officers on and off of ships, raising and lowering of colors and announcing reveille and taps. Historically, the bosun’s pipe was also considered to be a badge of rank because ordinary seamen were not permitted to wear or use one.
History Lovers Corner
For all, you history buffs out there, bosun’s mate is the oldest rate in the U.S. Navy. According to the USN history site, the rate was in use in 1775 and formally established in 1797. Not all ratings of this early era have retained their identity because the majority of the ratings today have evolved from later technical developments. While jobs and duties have changed, the rating of bosun’s mate has remained the same since the American Revolution.
What is a rate?
As per the US Navy standards, for the Navy enlisted personnel the term “rate” is used instead of rank. The rating badge is a combination of rate (pay grade, as indicated by the number of chevrons) and rating (occupational specialty, as indicated by the symbol just above the chevrons).
For example, the insignia above represents a Petty Officer First Class (the rate) who is a Boatswain’s Mate (the rating). To know more about enlisted rates, visit the website in the link below.
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Source: Peninsula Daily News and US Navy
