Talk:Boatswain

Question
Are "Nathaniel Blair", "Rich Ayers" and "Troy Epps" actual "notable boatswains"? The proof? Is there also even such a ship as the USS "Fieldnut"? --121.7.208.199 (talk) 04:00, 13 December 2009 (UTC)

Pronunciation
I've always pronounced it "Bot-swun". AmericanLeMans (talk) 01:56, 15 July 2010 (UTC)


 * The correct pronunciation is "bow-sun". Stevetac (talk) 04:08, 11 April 2013 (UTC)


 * In phonetics, it's ˈbəʊs(ə)n. (The first syllable is stressed, the second muttered into nothingness). Arrivisto (talk) 13:49, 14 December 2017 (UTC)

Historical Role
Would this be the right page to put in more of the historical role of the boatswain - or would that be better on a seperate page? We're currently missing a fair bit of "age of sail" stuff concerning standing rigging and, in the Royal Navy at least, almost a master-at-arms type role? 62.196.17.197 (talk) 16:07, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

Warrant Officers
Maybe things have changed since I was in, but I only met one CWO Boatswain in 4 years. That was out of two CWO's total. Maybe it is different on other ships, but the smallboys tend to not have them, and the Boatswain is either the Deck Division leading CPO or the First Lieutenant. Anyone clarify this in the current Navy? Stevetac (talk) 04:08, 11 April 2013 (UTC)

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Pippity Dippity?
This line is tucked into the end of "Job Description": A boatswain also is responsible for doing routine pipes using what is called a boatswain's call. There are specific sounds which can be made with the pipe to indicate various events, such as emergency situations or notifications of meal time. A common slang name for this instrument was the pippity dippity.[6]

Pippity Dippity caught my interest and seemed a little strange. This name isn't mentioned in the article for the instrument itselfBoatswain's call The source cited is from an art installation that used the instrument in 2016, and refers to it off-handedly once as "pippity dippity" After a google search, every result I found with the term is either a copy/paste of this wikipedia article or someone referring to it.

Is it possible that this is a joke someone got away with? It might be good to find a better source for this term — Preceding unsigned comment added by Slashmuffin (talk • contribs) 05:00, 5 January 2021 (UTC)

Petty Officer
It says that a bosun is also known as a petty officer. Is that correct? I thought "petty officer" referred to all manner of non-commissioned officers aboard ship, such as midshipmen, and that the bosun was the one charged with steering a ship (or boat).

The meaning of "Swain"
The old scandinavian meaning of "svein", "swain", etc. (Nowadays "svend", "svein", "sven", etc), is actually closer to "journeyman": a young, free (to travel: not bound by any lord), experienced & skilled man. So, in "boatswain" this meaning makes more sense, given the skill & experience required to get that position onboard a vessel. Sven Karlsen 1956 (talk) 14:30, 8 August 2022 (UTC)