Ship's carpenter is a post aboard

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 ...

s, both naval and commercial, responsible for the maintenance and repair of the ship's

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

en parts, as well as its water stocks. In the late 19th century, typical activities for a ship's carpenter included

caulking Caulk (also known as caulking and calking) is a material used to seal joints or seams against leakage in various structures and piping. The oldest form of caulk consisted of fibrous materials driven into the wedge-shaped seams between board ...

the ship's boats, repairing masts and other wooden pieces of the ship, maintaining paddles, and other miscellaneous tasks of

carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. C ...

as may be required. The most important task for a carpenter was maintenance of the ship's

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

from attack from

barnacle Barnacles are arthropods of the subclass (taxonomy), subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacean, Crustacea. They are related to crabs and lobsters, with similar Nauplius (larva), nauplius larvae. Barnacles are exclusively marine invertebra ...

s and ship worm.

Whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Jap ...

s employed carpenters to carry out emergency repairs.

Merchant vessels

In the late 19th century, almost all merchant vessels of a large size or on a long voyage carried a carpenter. The carpenter may or may not have been a

seaman Seaman may refer to: * Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew * Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies * Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name) * ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...

, thus either requiring or excusing him from ship's duties. While not an officer, the carpenter maintained a degree of privilege on the ship and was answerable only to the

ship's master The master, or sailing master, is a historical rank for a naval officer trained in and responsible for the navigation of a sailing vessel. In the Royal Navy, the master was originally a warrant officer who ranked with, but after, the lieutenant ...

in terms of his carpentry duties.

Royal Navy

The ship's carpenter on the ''

Mary Rose The ''Mary Rose'' was a carrack in the English Tudor navy of Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII. She was launched in 1511 and served for 34 years in several wars against France, Scotland, and Brittany. After being substantially rebuilt in ...

'' had his own cabin, in which tools such as his

adze An adze () or adz is an ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. Adzes have been used since the Stone Age. They are used for smoothing or carving wood in ha ...

and his

brace and bit A brace is a hand tool used with a bit (drill bit or auger) to drill holes, usually in wood. Pressure is applied to the top while the handle is rotated. If the bit's lead and cutting spurs are both in good working order, the user should not hav ...

were discovered. Carpenters were

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a Military rank, rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ...

s until the end of the Second World War. Carpenters were unusual in that many of them passed part of their careers as civilian employees of the Navy Board in the dockyards, and part as officers in the Navy. Although it was possible to serve an apprenticeship afloat as Carpenter's Crew and Carpenter's Mate, the majority qualified as shipwrights in the dockyards before going to sea, and some of the Master Shipwrights and their Assistants were former Carpenters who had returned to the yards. In the 20th century, with the adoption of metal as the general material for ship construction, carpenters no longer dealt with wood on board ships. In 1918 they were renamed Warrant Shipwrights.

United States

''Carpenter's mate'' (CM) was a United States Navy rating throughout the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. The rating was established in 1797, and separate pay grades were implemented in 1893. The sleeve insignia for the rating depicted two crossed axes. Responsibilities of carpenter's mates included maintaining ship ventilation, watertight control, painting, and drainage. During the era of wooden ships, carpenter's mates were charged with maintaining the integrity of the ship's

. In times of battle, carpenter's mates would fight fires and use plugs to patch holes in the hull. In 1948, the rating was changed to

damage controlman People who are in the damage controlman (DC) rating are the United States Navy's and United States Coast Guard’s maintenance and emergency repair specialists. The damage controlman (DC) rating was established in 1948 as a consolidation of the F ...

References

United States Navy ratings {{USN-stub