Boatswain's mate (United States Navy)
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The United States Navy occupational rating of boatswain's mate is a designation given by the Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) to enlisted members who were rated or "striking" for the rating as a deck seaman. The colloquial form of address for a boatswain's mate is "Boats".
Rating insignia
Boatswain's mates prepare for an "anchor drop test" aboard the USS George H.W. Bush to check the operability of the ship's anchor.
Boatswain's mate guiding an LCAC.
Boatswain's Mate 1st Class pipes arrival honors
Naval rating
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In a military navy, a rate or rating, and sometimes known as a bluejacket in the United States, is a junior enlisted sailor who is below the military rank of warrant officer. They are not a commissioned officer. Depending on the country and navy that uses it, the exact term and the range of ranks that it refers to may vary.
Equity or a Sailor's Prayer before Battle, from the Battle of Trafalgar. A 19th-century caricature portraying ratings on a Royal Navy ship. The man with a sword is a commissioned officer, as is the man on the ladder with the telescope. All others are ratings.
The Royal Navy during the Second World War. Six naval rating recruits of the training ship HMS Impregnable, Devonport, scramble up the rigging during a daily training exercise.
Royal Navy Certificate of Service (Form S.459), given to all ratings on discharge.