“Distinguishing marks” are worn by certain enlisted men to indicate special duties or stations to which they are detailed or to show certain qualifications. These marks are embroidered in white silk for blue clothing and in blue silk for white clothing and, as illustrated, are as follows:
| NUMBER OF FIGURE IN ILLUSTRATION. | DUTY OR STATION. |
|---|---|
| 19. | Seaman gunner mark, worn below the chevron by petty officers and in place of the rating badge by other men who have qualified as seaman gunners. |
| 20. | Gun captain mark, worn by men detailed by the commanding officer as gun captains, on the opposite arm to that on which the rating badge is worn. |
| 21. | Gun pointer mark, worn by men who have qualified as gun pointers on the opposite arm to that on which the rating badge is worn; gun pointers of the first class wear the mark with a star above it ([Figure 22]). |
| 23. | The Navy “E,” worn by members of the turret, gun and torpedo crews that make exceptionally high scores on record target practice, and men of the Engineer Division of the ship winning the trophy in the annual engineering competition. Expert rifleman’s mark, worn by enlisted men of the Navy, Marine Corps and Naval Militia qualified as expert riflemen on the left sleeve midway between the wrist and the elbow, and consisting of a square, one inch, containing target rings three-quarters of an inch and one-half of an inch in diameter and a bull’s-eye one-quarter of an inch in diameter, embroidered in blue on white for white clothing, in white on blue for blue clothing and in gray on khaki for khaki-colored clothing. |
| 24. | Radio operator, worn by electricians who are radio operators below the rating badge. |
| 25. | Torpedoman mark, worn by gunner’s mates who have qualified in torpedoes and mines below the rating badge. |
| 7. | Shipwright’s mark, worn by shipwrights in the same place as the rating badge. |
| 14. | Hospital Corps mark (the Geneva cross), worn by hospital apprentices on the left arm above the elbow. |
| 17. | Ship’s cook of the third and fourth classes, bakers of the second class and officers’ stewards and cooks, worn on the left arm above the elbow. |
| 3. | Signalmen, first and second class, worn on the arm above the elbow in place of the rating badge. |
| 15. | Musician’s mark, worn by musicians of the first and second class on the left arm above the elbow. |
| 26. | Ex-apprentice mark, worn by all men who have passed through the rating of apprentice in the navy; worn on the front of the overshirt and jumper just below the neck opening and on the sleeve of petty officers’ coats on the same side as the rating badge, between the wrist and the elbow. |
U. S. Navy
Enlisted men’s specialty marks, distinguishing marks and buttons
The Branch of the Navy to which all enlisted men not petty officers belong is shown by a branch mark, a stripe of braid three-eighths of an inch wide around the top of the sleeve at the shoulder seam.
For the Seaman Branch the branch mark is worn on the right arm, in blue for white clothing and white for blue clothing; for the artificer branch, engineer force, the branch mark is worn on the left arm in red. Hospital apprentices, shipwrights, musicians, buglers, commissary and messmen wear no branch mark.
Service stripes.—To show the number of enlistments that a man has served all enlisted men who have served one or more enlistments of three or four years wear service stripes, three-eighths of an inch wide, diagonally across the outer side of the left sleeve of the blue coat, white coat, overshirt or jumper. These service stripes are of scarlet cloth on blue clothing and of blue cloth on white clothes. One service stripe is worn for each enlistment of three or four years that the wearer has completed. For petty officers who hold three consecutive good-conduct badges the service stripes are made of gold lace braid.
Neckerchief.—The neckerchief worn by enlisted men with the blue overshirt and white dress jumper is of black silk thirty-six inches square, worn around the neck under the collar, tied in a square knot just below the collar opening in front.
Leggings.—For duty with landing forces ashore enlisted men of the navy wear khaki-colored canvas leggings.