Army and Navy Uniforms and Insignia / How to Know Rank, Corps and Service in the Military and Naval Forces of the United States and Foreign Countries

by Dion Williams

The Warrant Officers of the Line are as follows:
	Boatswain
	Gunner
	Machinist
The Warrant Officers of the Staff are as follows:
	Carpenter
	Sailmaker
	Pharmacist
	Pay Clerk

All warrant officers take rank and precedence next after commissioned officers, their relative rank among themselves being determined by date of appointment.

Warrant officers are eligible to be commissioned as Ensigns after passing the prescribed examination, in which case they are advanced to higher rank in the same manner as other Ensigns commissioned after graduation from the Naval Academy. In this manner a young man who proves himself worthy of the honor may rise from the lowest enlisted grade to be an Admiral.

Enlisted Men of the Navy

The highest grade of enlisted men in the U. S. Navy is that of Mate. Mates are rated by authority of the Secretary of the Navy from seamen of over two years’ service. They have no relative rank, but take precedence over all other enlisted men. They wear a uniform like that of warrant officers with a distinctive insignia as later described.

The classes of enlisted men in the Navy corresponding to the “noncommissioned officers” of the Army and Marine Corps are styled “Petty Officers.”

All of the enlisted men of the Navy are divided into branches according to their principal duties, the different grades in these several branches being as follows:

CHIEF PETTY OFFICERS

Seaman Branch	Artificer Branch	Special Branch
Chief Master-at-Arms	Chief Machinist’s Mate.	Chief Yeoman.
Chief Boatswain’s Mate.	Chief Electrician.	Hospital Steward.
Chief Gunner’s Mate.	Chief Carpenter’s Mate.	Bandmaster.
Chief Turret Captain.	Chief Water Tender.	Chief Commissary Steward.
Chief Quartermaster.

PETTY OFFICERS, FIRST CLASS

Seaman Branch	Artificer Branch	Special Branch
Master-at-Arms, first class.	Machinist’s Mate, first class.	First Musician.
Boatswain’s Mate, first class.	Electrician, first class.	Yeoman, first class.
Turret Captain, first class.	Boilermaker.	Commissary Steward.
Gunner’s Mate, first class.	Coppersmith.	Ship’s Cook, first class.
Gun Captain, first class.	Blacksmith.	Baker, first class.
Quartermaster, first class.	Plumber and Fitter.
	Sailmaker’s Mate.
	Carpenter’s Mate, first class.
	Water Tender.
	Ship Fitter, first class.
	Painter, first class.