Party
| Home | Browse | Search | Previous | Next |
|
|
South Seas Companion
Party
|
|
|
Petty Officer |
| Petty officers were not officers in the common sense of the word, but men chosen by a captain from amongst the able-bodied seamen aboard his ship to undertake particular duties. They were generally seamen particularly skilled in some aspect of working the ship, such as the boatswain's mates, or seamen who could supervise the unfurling or gathering in of sails on the ships higher yards. However, gunners' mates, and craftsmen such the carpenter's mate, were also commonly rated as petty officers. |
|
|
| ||
|
Published by South Seas, 1 February 2004 Comments, questions, corrections and additions: Paul.Turnbull@jcu.edu.au Prepared by: Paul Turnbull Updated: 28 June 2004 To cite this page use: http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-ss-biogs-P000107 |