Boat Officer
During heavy weather, and other times as deemed necessary, an officer (sometimes a chief petty officer) is assigned to each duty boat.
A boat officer naturally has authority over the coxswain. The boat officer does not assume the coxswain's responsibilities, or relieve the coxswain of his duties, but is there to oversee the boat operations to ensure that safety is maintained at all times. The situation is somewhat like the relationship between the OOD and the commanding officer on the bridge. The coxswain and boat officer are responsible for the boat and for the safety and welfare of the crew and passengers.
Read more about this topic: Navy Boat Crew
Famous quotes containing the words boat and/or officer:
“But now, our boat climbs hesitates drops
climbs hesitates crawls back
climbs hesitates
O be swift
we have always known you wanted us.”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)
“When Prince William [later King William IV] was at Cork in 1787, an old officer ... dined with him, and happened to say he had been forty years in the service. The Prince with a sneer asked what he had learnt in those forty years. The old gentleman justly offended, said, “Sir, I have learnt, when I am no longer fit to fight, to make as good a retreat as I can” —and walked out of the room.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)