A cabin boy or ship's boy is a boy or young man who waits on the officers and passengers of a

ship A ship is a large watercraft, vessel that travels the world's oceans and other Waterway, navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally disti ...

, especially running errands for the captain. The modern merchant navy successor to the cabin boy is the steward's assistant.

Duties

Cabin boys were usually 13–16 years old, but sometimes as young as 8, and also helped the cook in the ship's kitchen and carried buckets of food from the ship's kitchen to the

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck (ship), deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is t ...

where the ordinary seamen ate. They would have to scramble up the rigging into the yards whenever the sails had to be trimmed. They would occasionally stand watch like other crewmen or act as helmsman in good weather, holding the wheel to keep the ship steady on her course. They could be found on pirate ships sometimes.

Royal Navy officers

Several prominent British Royal Navy officers began their career as cabin boys. The list includes officers that achieved an admiralty rank before 1801. * Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Parker, 1st Baronet of Shenstone * Admiral of the Fleet Sir Cloudsley Shovell * Admiral Sir

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

* Admiral Sir John Hawkins * Admiral (General) Richard Deane * Admiral (Colonel) William Rainsborough * Admiral Sir

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...

* Vice Admiral Lord Nelson * Vice Admiral Sir William Batten * Vice Admiral Sir John Lawson * Vice Admiral (Captain) Badilow * Vice Admiral Sir Thomas Tiddeman * Vice Admiral (Captain) James Peacock * Vice Admiral (Captain) William Goodsonn * Vice Admiral Sir Christopher Myngs * Vice Admiral Sir John Harman * Rear Admiral Sir John Berry * Rear Admiral Sir Richard Stainer * Rear Admiral (Captain) Anthony Houlding * Rear Admiral (Captain) Deacons * Rear Admiral (Captain) Robert Sansum

Notable American cabin boys

* Matthew Henson, cabin boy at the age of 12. Went on to accompany Robert Peary in his Arctic explorations. Henson claimed to have been the first person to reach the North Pole. * John Anglin, cabin boy who received the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. * Commodore John Barry, Barry would go on to serve in the American Revolutionary War and is known as "the Father of the American Navy." * Hobart Bosworth, cabin boy on the '' Sovereign of the Seas'' who became a famous actor. * Christian Franzen, cabin boy who served in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

.'Wisconsin Blue Book 1915,' Biographical Sketch of Chris Franzen, pg. 519 * Michael Healy, cabin boy in 1854, who became the first African-American to command a ship of the United States Government. * James Machon, cabin boy who received the

during the

. * Thomas Nickerson, cabin boy on the ''

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

'' who later wrote about the shipwreck and subsequent three months of survival at sea. * Frederick Pabst, cabin boy at the age of 14 and Great Lakes Captain at 21. Later became an American brewing pioneer and led Pabst Brewing Company into prominence in the late 1800s. * John H. Paynter, cabin boy who enlisted in 1884, later became a real estate developer and writer of poetry and nonfiction, including the acclaimed ''Fugitive of the Pearl'' (1930). *John Ward Westcott, cabin boy at the age of 13 and a

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

captain at 20. He developed a special vessel mail system.

In popular culture

*'' Cori, de Scheepsjongen'' ("Cori the Cabin Boy"), a comics series by Belgian artist Bob de Moor about a cabin boy working for the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie in the 16th century. *'' Cabin Boy'', a 1994 film. *"Cabin Boy" a song by '' Tom Robinson'' from the 1984/1997 Castaway Northwest CNWVP006 album ''War Baby''. *'' Captain Pugwash'', a British television children's animated series about a hapless captain and his crew; Tom, the cabin boy, is depicted as the most intelligent member of the crew. *'' Treasure Island'', where the main character Jim serves as a cabin boy on the board the ship the ''Hispaniola''. *"Cabin Boy", a short story by Damon Knight. *In The Terror AMC, the first season of the show showcased four fictionalised versions of the real ship boys of the Franklin Expedition. Thomas Evans, Robert Golding, David Young and George Chambers. *'' Renaissance Festival'', The Cabin Boys, Pirate Fire Comedy act from Minnesota. *In ''

One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, as he explores the Grand Line in search of the myt ...

'', a couple of famous figures started their career as pirate cabin boys who would later grow into prominence after leaving their old crews. The Roger Pirates, the crew of the Pirate King Gol D. Roger, had two cabin boys who would later become two of the current Four Emperors, "Red-Hair" Shanks and "Genius Jester" Buggy. Their fellow emperor Marshall D. Teach (a.k.a. "Blackbeard") was a cabin boy of the Whitebeard Pirates, the rival crew of the Roger Pirates. The dethroned emperor "King of the Beasts" Kaidou was a cabin boy of the legendary Rocks Pirates. "Surgeon of Death" Trafalgar D. Water Law joined the Donquixote Family as a cabin boy where he would hang out with fellow cabin boy and cabin girl Buffalo and Baby 5 until Law was taken away from the crew by Donquixote Rosinante ("Corazon") for his own safety. SWORD officer "Red Flag" X. Drake was forced to be a cabin boy of his father's pirate crew, the Barrels Pirates, until the day of their destruction from which he escaped. Fellow SWORD officer Koby "the Hero" was abducted and forced to be a cabin boy for the Aldiva Pirates until he escaped and then joined the Marines shortly after.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabin Boy Personal care and service occupations Marine occupations Obsolete occupations Child labour Gendered occupations