On some ships the deck officers directly supervise the seamen in maintenance work. On others, there will be an experienced senior seaman, the bosun, who actually organises the work. Seamen were traditionally described according to their level of experience. An ordinary seaman was relatively unskilled, and perhaps had only recently gone to sea. The able seaman was more experienced, and could readily do any job a sailor was called upon to do, being paid accordingly.

Specialist sailors

`Queen Mary` crew (1:02)

Help with sound

There were also some specialists amongst the sailors. A carpenter was vital on a wooden ship, where he would be called upon to repair any damage, but even steel ships carried one. He had particular responsibility for the ship`s holds, shaping bits of wood known as dunnage to secure bulky items of cargo. The carpenter would also take soundings of the amount of water in ballast tanks and, in case of damage to the ship, in the holds themselves. The lamp trimmer was originally given the job of maintaining the ship`s lamps when they used oil. In ships with electric lighting, the lamp trimmer was given other work.

When radio began to appear on ships, in the early years of the twentieth century, trained wireless operators were needed. One of the radio companies, often Marconi, employed these officers, rather than the shipping company itself. As radio has became easier to use - Morse code is no longer needed, for example - fewer and fewer radio officers have been needed as the deck officers take over their work.

The master

The mate and officers

Sailors and specialists