I have a portrait photo of my GGGrandfather in a chair on deck in front of the mast of a ship. He was born in 1841 and spent his life at sea, starting as a 'boy' and moving up to Master on a number of telegraph cable laying ships. The photo is undated but would have been mid-late 1800s. He was certificated 2-mate 1865, 1-mate 1867, and Master 1869.
The photograph has him in a dark double-breasted jacket with 'gold' buttons and three equal width medium-thickness stripes above each wrist … a bit like a modern day navy Commander, except without the loopy bit.
I have been assuming this was a photo of him as Master of whatever ship it was … but wanted to check.
Are those three stripes indicative of Master, or First Mate, or something else?
p.s. I am talking about an English mariner. He'd have been sailing out of near Greenwich at the time.
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20-05-2019, 12:06 PM #1
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Three stripes: Master or First Mate?
Last edited by Dougal.; 20-05-2019 at 12:11 PM. Reason: disambiguation
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20-05-2019, 1:14 PM #2
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https://www.marineinsight.com/career...-navy-uniform/
According to the above site three stripes nowadays signifies a Chief Officer, four stripes for a Captain. I'd gues that is the present day equivalent of First Mate and Master back in the 1800s, however I am happy to stand corrected if someone knows better.
Emeltee
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20-05-2019, 8:30 PM #3
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Thanks. I think that could well be correct.
In today's merchant navy it'd have been 'Chief', with Captain having four stripes (https://www.marineinsight.com/career...-navy-uniform/). Maybe the portrait photo was celebrating /commemorating his first mateship.
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