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I'm really not sure when Quartermasters became the primary celestial
navigators in the Navy. The earliest training manuals that I have for
QMs are from the 1950s and celestial navigation was part of the job at
that time. I have posted your question to a message board that is used
by a lot of current and retired (many who served in World War 2) navy
personnel to see if anyone can give me a better answer. If I receive an
answer I will post it here.

The USCG has recently merged its Quartermasters with the Boatswain's
Mates. I have had several of them attend my class and they are the
primary ones who do celestial on the Cutters. I really don't know for
sure about foreign navies but I believe that the Officers are much more
involved with navigation.

Stacy

-----Original Message-----
From: Navigation Mailing List
[mailto:NAVIGATION-L@LISTSERV.WEBKAHUNA.COM] On Behalf Of Trevor J.
Kenchington
Sent: Monday, February 02, 2004 17:45
To: NAVIGATION-L@LISTSERV.WEBKAHUNA.COM
Subject: Re: Naval Quartermasters and M.M.Officers

Stacy,

Can you say when the hands-on work of celestial navigation in the USN
was taken over by enlisted personnel? I assume that it was formerly a
task for officers, since it requires at least some mathematical
education, but I don't know whether the "formerly" means a few years
back, a few decades or some time in the early 19th century.

Do you know who fills the role on USCG cutters or on the warships of
other navies?


Trevor Kenchington



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Trevor J. Kenchington PhD                         Gadus@iStar.ca
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