Mates in the Navy
The term "Mate"
comes from the French word matelot, meaning sailor and the term has long been
part of our sea language. At one time it was also the official title of a Navy
rating. It goes back to the early days of the sea service, appearing first as
Master's Mate. The duties of mates in those days were many and varied, chief
of which was the stowing and discharging of cargo. They were also responsible
for the cleanliness of the ship, taking care of boats and being mate of the
deck. As time went on, Boatswains, Gunners, Machinists and many other petty
officers became known as mates.
In the year 1799, men with the Mate's rating were recognized as warrant officers.
After 1843 no more warrants were issued but those who had been appointed continued
to hold their office and received their pay. In 1847 a Navy Department regulation
stopped commanding officers from making these appointments. However, the expansion
of the Navy during the Civil War also had an effect and on 7 October 1863 the
Secretary of the Navy issued the following circular:
Seamen enlisted in the naval service may hereafter, as formerly, be advanced to the rating of Master's Mate, and such ratings may be bestowed by the commander of the squadron, subject to approval of the Department, or by the commander of a vessel, with the previous sanction of the Department. Seamen rated as Master's Mates will not be discharged with that rating, and will be considered as disrated to seaman upon the expiration of their enlistment, but upon their immediate reenlistment the rating of Master's Mate may be considered as renewed.
By an act of 3 March 1865, Master Mate was changed to "mates," and the Secretary of the Navy was authorized to increase their pay and to rate them from Seaman to Ordinary Seaman who had enlisted in the naval service for not less than two years. The act of 15 July 1870 gave formal recognition to mates as part of the naval forces and their pay was fixed at $900 when at sea, $700 on shore duty, and $500 on leave or awaiting orders. The quota of mates in the Navy was not fixed, but from a maximum of about 842 on 1 January 1865, the number gradually diminished until 1 July 1894 when there were only 27 remaining. Before 1 August 1894 there had been no authority for retirement of these men, but on that date a law was passed increasing the pay of those in the Navy and providing that they should have the same benefits of retirement as warrant officers. One purpose of the act was to make the retired pay of mates large enough to induce them to retire. By an act of 1906 the mates on the Navy retired list were promoted to the next higher grade if they had creditable Civil War service, which most of them had. They were given warrant rank and rated with the lowest grade of warrant officer. They were still called mates, but whether they were officers or enlisted men apparently was not clear. A year after the passage of this act the Attorney General of the United States published the legal opinion that mates "occupy the status of both officers in the Navy and enlisted men."
Information Courtesy of Naval Historical Center
