Michelson's Operating Crew

Michelson’s operating crewmen were civilian merchant mariners, employed by the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS), now called Military Sealift Command. The crew was quite large compared with those on ships today. Generally there were three groups of seamen: the deck crew, the engineers and the stewards.

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Besides the captain, officially “the master”, deck officers included a first officer (chief mate), a second mate and two third mates, or one third and a fourth mate.  On most merchant ships the first mate is in charge of the deck, cargo, fuel and ballast. The second mate is the ship’s navigator. Aboard Michelson one of the third officers was in charge of safety and lifeboats. The second and two third mates stood watches on the bridge, four hours on and eight off. Traditionally, the second officer takes the four to eight o’clock watches, as during these hours ships usually enter  port.  The first mate was a day worker.

The deck department included both able seamen (AB) and ordinary seamen (OS). An AB stood watch on the bridge (or pilothouse) and steered the ship, acting as quartermaster, directed by the watch officer. Another AB and an OS were also assigned to each watch as lookouts or relief quartermasters. The bosun was in charge of another group of seamen who during the day maintained the decks and hull, scraping, priming and painting. Off watch seamen earned overtime pay doing this as well. One of the ABs also functioned as carpenter.

There were a variety of people in the engineering department. Under the chief engineer and first assistant engineer were three watch standing officers in the engine room, along with the oilers and firemen/water tenders. Day workers included wipers, a refrigeration engineer, machinist,  plumber, chief electrician and second electrician. Steamships required a lot of labor in the engine room.

The chief steward ran the ship’s housekeeping department. On a cruise ship this would be called the hotel staff. The cooks, one of whom was also a baker, messmen, mess assistants, laundryman and utilitymen reported to him. Utilitymen made the beds and cleaned cabins and passageways.


Other crew members included the radio officer, one or more yeomen who acted as department clerks, a purser and perhaps an assistant purser. Altogether, there were about 55 in Michelson's operating crew. The above information was more or less correct as of 1962-64.  I understand that in later years some job positions were combined or made redundant.