Engine room artificer (ERA) is a specialised position in the crews of naval vessels – especially those of the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

(RN) and other

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

navies. An ERA is usually a fitter and turner, boilermaker, coppersmith or enginesmith. On larger vessels, there are several ERAs, divided into three or more classes. Each of these positions is normally associated with a specific non-commissioned rank and level of experience – for example, an ERA (First Class) is normally a

chief petty officer A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards, usually above petty officer. By country Australia "Chief Petty Officer" is the second highest non-commissioned rank in the Royal Australian Navy ...

(CPO). The designation ERA was introduced in the early days of

steam-powered A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tra ...

warships, and in most navies is now obsolete. Usually working under an

engineer officer An engineering officer can be a Merchant Navy engineer, or a commissioned officer in the British Armed Forces with responsibility for military engineering. In the Royal Navy (RN), Engineer Officer (Royal Navy), Engineering Officers are responsib ...

, an ERA was able to read and write, competent in the workings of

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

s and

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...

s, and trained in the maintenance and operation and uses of all parts of marine engines. ERAs were the senior maintainers and operators of all warship mechanical plant. From about 1916, ERAs could also be placed in charge of small ships as an engineering officer and were also

EOs In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Eos (; Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek ''Ēṓs'', Attic Greek, Attic ''Héōs'', "dawn", or ; Aeolic Greek, Aeolic ''Aúōs'', Doric Greek, Doric ''Āṓs'') is the go ...

of the watch on destroyers and below for which they received rapid advancement to CPO and extra charge pay of 1/- (one shilling) per day on attaining their "ticket" By the 1950s, the RN used the term ERA for apprentice-trained boilermakers, coppersmiths, fitters and turners; however, boilermaker and coppersmith skills were becoming redundant and the remaining trades, fitters, turners and metalworkers, together with shipwrights and mechanicians, were expanded by cross-training to undertake most operational maintenance and the running of all mechanical equipment, including steam, diesel and

gas turbine A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of Internal combustion engine#Continuous combustion, continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas gene ...

main machinery. During the same period, ERAs spent their first 16 months (four terms) at HMS ''Fisgard'' in

Torpoint Torpoint () is a town and civil parish on the Rame Peninsula in southeast Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated opposite the city of Plymouth across the Hamoaze which is the tidal estuary of the River Tamar. Torpoint had a populatio ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, and the next eight terms at HMS ''Caledonia'' in

Rosyth Rosyth () is a town and Garden City in Fife, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth. Scotland's first Garden city movement, Garden City, Rosyth is part of the Greater Dunfermline Area and is located 3 miles south of Dunfermline city cen ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

before completing their fifth year at sea or in dockyards with the fleet. During this long training time their duties with the RN often moved beyond the world of engineering and into the world of combat and leadership. In the 1960s, as an increasing number of

nuclear-powered submarine A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines. Nuclear propulsion, ...

s came into service with the RN, nuclear technicians were included in the ranks of ERAs. Later in that decade, to better represent the range of technical abilities of ERAs, the name of the appointment was changed to Marine Engineering Artificer (MEA). For example, a nuclear technician became an MEA (P), for "propulsion". An MEA was a qualified technician with an in-depth knowledge of a wider range of equipment, including the main engines, engine room, auxiliary propulsion equipment, and calibration of electronic and mechanical gauges and other measuring equipment. The Irish Naval Service continues to use the term Engine Room Artificer for marine technicians, who wear a distinctive insignia.

References

{{Reflist Shipbuilders Military ranks of the Royal Navy