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George,

I _think_ (but have no authoritative sources to cite) that the
Quartermaster on the ships you are talking about was the senior helmsman
but that there was only one Quartermaster aboard and so he could not
have been the only helmsman. He would likely have been at the wheel
during particularly important manoevures, such as going alongside or
heading through a narrow channel. I _think_ that the same was true on RN
ships in the first half of the 20th Century (with smart merchant ships
aping naval practice, of course).

In both settings, "Quartermaster" was at least a position, to which an
individual was appointed. Whether it was formally a "rank" is harder to
say (not least because it depends on how one defines "rank", with the
definition likely being quite different in naval and mercantile situations).

All that was quite different to practices around 1800, when warships
carried multiple Quartermasters and they usually supervised the men at
the wheel, with responsibilities that the Mates would carry on merchant
ships (though, in battle, the helmsmen would typically be selected from
among the Quartermasters). If was also different from merchant sailing
ships in the era you are interested in. Those had no designated
"Quartermaster" and all fo'c'sle hands would take turns at the wheel
under the supervision of Master or Mate -- though experienced men were
selected during critical periods and the greenhorns given experience at
times when the ship was steering easily with lessened immediate risks.
Whether the practices aboard tramp steamers in the early 20th century
followed those of tramp sailors or of crack liners, I cannot say.


Trevor Kenchington


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Trevor J. Kenchington PhD                         Gadus@iStar.ca
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