# What trade drives the big navy boats?



## canucksfan250 (24 Sep 2013)

I am joining as a boatswain and the recruiter said the bosns also drive the big boats but it does not say any of that on the forces website!


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## Journeyman (24 Sep 2013)

canucksfan250 said:
			
		

> ......the bosns also drive the big boats .......


You row.  It's good for lats and delts.....until the Captain wants to waterski.....or the crew wants to play on inner tubes behind the boat.   :nod:


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## 421_434_226 (24 Sep 2013)

It can't be that bad I heard that the new teflon oars are sooooooo much lighter.


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## d_edwards (24 Sep 2013)

Well to give you an actual answer and not use your post for my amusement, bosuns do have duty at the helm.  I found the job to be rather underwhleming in a very short amount of time.  I seldom ever saw non ql5 qualified bosuns at the helm,  not because of the skill involved so much as a seniority perk of getting a break from being lookout.  

The throttles are controlled by someone else, usually a tech of some sort.


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## chrisf (24 Sep 2013)

Pft... driving... engine room trades are the way to go... never rains snows or blows in the engine room.


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## cupper (24 Sep 2013)

a Sig Op said:
			
		

> Pft... driving... engine room trades are the way to go... never rains snows or blows in the engine room.



AAAnnnd Truth be told, they are the ones that drive the big boats. They just let the guys upstairs THINK that they drive 'em.


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## GAP (25 Sep 2013)

cupper said:
			
		

> AAAnnnd Truth be told, they are the ones that drive the big boats. They just let the guys upstairs THINK that they drive 'em.



The guys upstairs don't drive them, but they do point them..............


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## Pat in Halifax (25 Sep 2013)

a Sig Op said:
			
		

> Pft... driving... engine room trades are the way to go... never rains snows or blows in the engine room.


Yeah but there are no windows. I always thought a screened porch off the stbd side of the MCR by the EOOW console (on HAL class) would have been nice but the CM (Configuration Management) Chief at the time simply told me to f-off.
Actually Bos'ns could find themselves 'driving' as throttleman/helmsman. When  things are quiet (and I have never agreed with this), quite often one person ins in the helmsman chair leaning over inputting any speed changes. I don't  know where the 'on watch' throttleman is when this is going on.


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## Pusser (25 Sep 2013)

OK.  Now that everyone has had their chuckles, we'll get to the actual answer.  However, the answer is actually dependent upon what you mean by "drive the big boats."

The dude who actually steers the ship is called the helmsman and this duty is done in shifts by several different trades (boatswain is among them).  Boatswain's are considered the experts in this area and so when things get tricky (e.g. pilotage and replenishment at sea, when acurate steering is crucial) the "special sea duty" helmsman is almost certainly a boatswain.  However, the one who steers the ship (i.e. has his/her hands on the wheel and controls the rudder), is not the one who is actually "driving."  The helmsman simply reacts to and carries out the orders of whoever has the "con" (which can be a variety of individuals, all of whom are MARS officers, but is usually the Officer of the Watch or Second Officer of the Watch).  In short, it is the MARS officers who are actually "driving" (i.e. they are the ones navigating and deciding where the ship is going).  And of course, the engineers are operating the propulsion machinery which makes the ship actually move (although they do this in response to the MARS officers' direction).

If you are referring to small boats such as the rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIBs - which are actually rather big and fast - not little rowboats), then yes, it is the boatswains who drive them.  In fact, this is considered the exclusive domain of boatswains (although MARS officers can sometimes drive them as well).


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## TwoTonShackle (25 Sep 2013)

Boatswains drive (steer) the ship, while the Officer of the Watch conns (controls the movements) the ship, (think nagging wife/husband in the front passenger seat telling you where to turn but you have to listen).


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## Baz (25 Sep 2013)

We manned every single position, including the OOW, with the Air Det one time, and then piped the captain to the bridge.  He was surprised to say the least... of course, the real watch was around the corner where the Admiral's signaller spot is.  There was even someone sitting in his chair.

So, ACSO's can drive the boat, but only under very close supervision.


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## Occam (25 Sep 2013)

How did you manage to get that many of the AirDet awake at the same time?


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## peterpan (25 Sep 2013)

they were all getting a late night snack  8)


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## Pat in Halifax (25 Sep 2013)

Or someone told them we were alongside!
As for MARS officer driving RHIBs, that's a new one to me.

Pat


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## Occam (25 Sep 2013)

There was a brief period during which NE Techs operated (both locally and remotely) the Barracuda target system, which was a remote control RHIB.  Then the Bos'ns union found out about it, and they were aghast that someone other than a bos'n could operate a RHIB at top speed, and they went into self-preservation mode and made enough noise that the Bos'ns were given back the maintenance and launch/recovery of the Barracuda.  It sure was fun while it lasted, watching all the CBM's heads spin when they saw techs driving their beloved boats.


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## dimsum (25 Sep 2013)

Pat in Halifax said:
			
		

> Or someone told them we were alongside!
> As for MARS officer driving RHIBs, that's a new one to me.
> 
> Pat



May be a NAVRES NRD thing, but at the units (or at least my old home unit) MARS Officers did that quite a bit.


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## Pusser (26 Sep 2013)

Dimsum said:
			
		

> May be a NAVRES NRD thing, but at the units (or at least my old home unit) MARS Officers did that quite a bit.



It's not just an NRD thing.  Although the boatswain's union certainly kicked up a huge stink about anyone other than boatswain's driving RHIBs, a more sane and reasoned approach indicated that if a MARS officer could drive a destroyer or frigate without incident, he/she could certainly drive a RHIB.  When I went through MARS training years ago, we were all required to get a small boat's coxswain certificate.  A RHIB is a small boat - one with attitude perhaps - but a small boat nonetheless.


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## FSTO (26 Sep 2013)

Pat in Halifax said:
			
		

> Or someone told them we were alongside!
> As for MARS officer driving RHIBs, that's a new one to me.
> 
> Pat



During OP APOLLO we had MARS officers driving the security patrol RHIBS when alongside in Jebel Ali. We heard that the Bosn Mafia put out a hit on my Buffer when word of this got back to Canada!


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