The United States Merchant Marine

Americans all know that May is the month when we observe Mother's Day and Memorial Day. But how many are aware that May 22, 1933 is the birthday of the United States Merchant Marine? Although this date is usually marked only on military service or veteran's organization calendars, the Merchant Marine plays an integral role in our country's shipping, ports and waterways.

The Merchant Marine is the designation given for our ocean-going commercial freight and passenger vessels, to differentiate them from naval craft. You may not be aware that during wartime, the Merchant Marine can also become a secondary line of defense. During World War II, 807 Merchant Marines gave their lives for the war effort; 4,830 went missing; and 112 Merchant Marines became prisoners of war. This makes a total of 5,749 Merchant Marines who distinguished themselves in service to the United States during the last World War.

Candidates recruited to become officers in the Merchant Marine are selected according to excelling examination scores among participating high school seniors. The officer candidates undergo four years of rigorous training patterned after procedures at West Point and Annapolis. The recruits receive specialized focused training in deck and engine room operations. The manner of payment is also based upon military payroll procedures, and the students at the Merchant Marine training academy, must dress in uniform.

Merchant Marines follow strict personnel rating rules in order to maintain a discipline similar to the military. Licensed officers are divided into engine room and deck categories. On deck, there are a captain (sometimes called a shipmaster), and first, second and third officers. In the engine room, the officers are chief engineer and first, second and third engineers. The chief engineer is not only superior to his staff but also is technically superior to the captain. In that role he is responsible for both navigation and conduct on board the vessel.

On the deck, subordinate Merchant Marine personnel ratings are boatswain (or bosun), ordinary and able seamen, cook, carpenter, and assistant. You might call a bosun the "middle management" of a ship. A boatswain ranks between officers and seamen and bears the authority to pass on orders to the lower ranks. He is directly in charge of the deck crew who handle anchors, rigging, and cables.

Engine room personnel ratings in the Merchant Marine include oilers and wipers on oil-burners, and stokers on those that burn coal.

On a passenger liner, the officer personnel is also supplemented by ship's doctor and other medical personnel, as well as pursers, stewards, and assistants to the stewards. The purser is the accountant of the ship, responsible for financial obligations on board. Stewards are attendants to the passengers, as well as bearing responsibility for provisions, dining, entertainment and social arrangements.

There is also a strict protocol followed by the Merchant Marine when it comes to scheduling time aboard ship. The ship's time is based on Greenwich mean time and is calculated through 24 hours, from midnight to midnight. The 24 hours are divided into seven-watch shifts beginning at noon. Five of the watches consist of four hours each. There are two watches, called "dog" watches, of two hours each. Thus, the scheduling of watches is as follows: afternoon watch, noon-4 a.m.; first dog, 4 p.m.-6 p.m.; last or second dog, 6 p.m.-8 p.m.; first, 8 p.m.-midnight; middle, midnight-4 a.m.; morning, 4 a.m.-8 a.m.; forenoon, 8 a.m.-noon.

Merchant Marine watches are generally scheduled so that officers and crew serve four hours on and eight hours off, twice every twenty-four hours. Customarily the captain serves the 8 to 12 watches with the third officer, however the third officer is still responsible for the ship conduct on his watch. No officer is allowed to leave the engine room or bridge without having checked out with the relieving officer. Any crew member or officer who does not report to his watch on time may be penalized, and a substitute ordered by the captain.

Our Merchant Marine is a hard working, strictly disciplined team who have been serving the commercial, sometimes military, needs of our country for decades. Won't you mark your calendar, too?

Sources:
American People's Encyclopedia
American Veterans of WWII, Korea & Vietnam