Pigeon TrainerĪirship riggers aboard USS Macon in 1933. Incidentally, two men have been made general of the armies-General John “Black Jack” Pershing (following WWI) and General George Washington (though he had been dead for 177 years when he received the promotion). When the five-star rank of fleet admiral was established in 1944, it was determined that Dewey’s rank of admiral of the Navy was equivalent to six stars. In addition to being promoted to the unprecedented rank of Admiral of the Navy, he was also encouraged to make a run for the White House (but lost support when he began to warn that the United States would one day be at war with Germany). Dewey returned from his 1898 victory at the Battle of Manila Bay to a hero’s welcome and was so popular that products ranging from dishware to clocks bearing his image could be found in homes throughout the country. Only one person has been promoted to the six-star equivalent rank: Adm. The only exception to enlisted rates in the list is the defunct supreme officer rank of admiral of the Navy. Chemical WarfaremanĪdmiral of the Navy George Dewey in 1899. By World War I, shipboard elevators were commonly used to deliver shells to guns. The Boy rate was disestablished in 1893 and the Navy became more strict about keeping underage sailors from joining crews. They were usually given the rating of Boy, which actually referred to a sailor’s lack of experience at sea rather than his age (many newly recruited adults of slight stature also served as powder monkeys). The name most likely comes from the boys’ ability to quickly scamper over and under obstacles on the cramped decks of a ship-like monkeys swinging through trees. Regulations in the 19th century did not allow boys younger than 13 to join the Navy (though that was rarely enforced) and children as young as 6 were documented as having served as powder monkeys during the Civil War. The primary duty of a ship’s powder monkeys was to carry gunpowder from the storage magazine to the crews manning cannons. Powder Monkey on board USS New Hampshire off Charleston, S.C., circa 1864. The following is a collection of former Navy ratings (and one defunct officer rank) made mostly obsolete by advances in technology and occasionally by more modern stances on race, gender, and-at least in one case-child-labor norms. What makes the system so confusing is the constant creation of new jobs, the merging of jobs or eliminating them entirely as the service requires.įor example, in the last several years the Navy has created ratings for unmanned vehicle operators and cyber-warfare technicians while losing or merging jobs such as patternmaker and boiler technician. Those range from the enduring-quartermaster, yeoman, boatswain’s mate or hospital corpsman-to the more obscure-religious programs specialist, interior communications electrician or legalman.Įach job has its own unique title-such as Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Jones-and an insignia denoting the rating included on his or her uniform. The Navy’s complicated enlisted system is based on a sailor’s occupation, or rating.

Enlisted sailors are classified by their unique jobs unlike the rank structure in other U.S.

A rating badge, worn by a newly minted Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class in 2006.

Obscure 2 trainer