Watchkeeping or watchstanding is the assignment of sailors to specific roles on a ship to operate it continuously. These assignments, also known at sea as watches, are constantly active as they are considered essential to the safe operation of the vessel and also allow the ship to respond to emergencies and other situations quickly. These watches are divided into work periods to ensure that the roles are always occupied at all times, while those members of the crew who are assigned to work during a watch are known as watchkeepers.
A sailor keeps watch aboard USS George H.W. Bush.
Ringing the bell on the aft flight deck
A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship.
Three types of mariners, seen here in the wheelhouse of a ship: a master, able seaman, and harbour pilot.
An able seaman stands iceberg lookout on the bow of the freighter USNS Southern Cross during a re-supply mission to McMurdo Station, Antarctica; c. 1981.
Portrait of a sailor taken on board the French aviso Ardent, 1857
Sailors on a ship
