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What Would a Coxswain's duty be on a Battleship in WWII?


uplandmod
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Hello,

 

I just purchased a WWII US Navy uniform belonging to a Coxswain on the USS Tennessee from 1942-46.

 

What would be the duties of Coxswain mate on a ship the size of the Tennessee?

 

How many smaller boats were on Battleships of this size?

 

How many Coxswain mates would be on a ship of this size, it doesn't appear that there would be many.

 

Any help appreciated!

 

Leonardo

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I noticed that a Coxswain is the name used if the sailor was a Boatswain Mate 3rd Class.

 

I figured they would use a CPO to pilot a ship the size of a Battleship.

 

LF

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By that time coxswain was just a holdover, a traditional title from the old days. A coxswain was really a boatswain's mate 3rd class, which they became in 1948, and their duties were the same as other boatswain's mates: Handling anchors and deck tackle, winches, cranes, davits, rigging rope, cable, canvas and above-deck seamanship in general as well as handling boats, plus a working knowledge of signals and ship's gunnery.

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I noticed that a Coxswain is the name used if the sailor was a Boatswain Mate 3rd Class.

 

I figured they would use a CPO to pilot a ship the size of a Battleship.

 

LF

 

I really can't improve much on Justin's post, but I did want to comment...the Helmsman is the person who steers the ship. No matter the size of the ship, it still could be a BM3 (or Cox.) or, for small ships like the ones I served on, an SA or SN. Being the "pilot" of the ship is completely different. A pilot is someone qualified in maneuvering ships in a specific port or waterway. They are the "experts" on that piece of water and know exactly how the ship should be navigated to prevent any mishaps from occurring. For the majority of the world, pilots are highly-trained civilians. However, the Navy used to (they still might, but I don't know) have Chiefs who were trained as pilots in a handful of ports. We had them when I was stationed in Yokosuka, Japan in 1999 to 2001. They used to have them in other ports, but I believe they were the last hangover from a Navy occupation of long before.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Dave

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Yes everyone! This helps a lot!

 

Excuse my mishmash of terms!

 

This is very interesting, I didn't know the Cox was a Boatswain 3rd Class until today.

I had noticed that when every Cox rate I saw in the rosters didn't list what class they were.

 

Thank you everyone!

LF

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