|
New! Now Available!
CPO / Senior CPO / Master CPO
Plaque with Name Plates
Click Image for Larger View
US Coast Guard CPO Plaque - details here
THE HISTORY OF THE CHIEF PETTY OFFICER
According to naval records, the first mention of the chief petty
officer was on a ship's muster roll in 1775. This brief mention of
the CPO title did not resurface in naval history for almost 100
years.
The history and design of the uniform date back to
the 18th century Continental Navy of 1776. With the colonization of the
new world, a need for a navy became apparent. Many of the people that
settled our nation learned their seafaring skills in England. These
sailors brought not only their seafaring skills, but also their customs,
traditions, and uniform similarities to this country. Many of our
uniform styles can be traced to the British Royal Navy.
In 1865 a Navy regulation reestablished the term
chief petty officer. The term was first used for the ship's
Master-at-Arms. It made him responsible for preservation of order and
obedience to all regulations. An excerpt from an 1865 regulation tasked
the senior enlisted person with the following responsibility:
"The Master-at-Arms will be the chief petty
officer of the ship in which he shall serve. All orders from him in
regard to the police of the vessel, the preservation of order, and the
obedience to regulations must be obeyed by all petty officers and others
of the crew. But he shall have no right to succession in command, and
shall exercise no authority in matters no specified above."
This, however, did not establish the term chief
as a rate. It was merely a function rather than a rate. Petty
officers were divided into petty officers of the line and petty officers
of the staff. Chief referred to the principal petty officer of the ship.
The next reference to the term chief was in
U.S. Navy Regulations Circular Number 41 dated 8 January 1885. Here
again the term chief refers to a function or title rather than a
rate. The men filling these chief billets were actually first and second
class petty officers.
A significant change to uniforms and rating badges
occurred in 1886. The first class petty officer wore a double-breasted
sack-style jacket, while petty officers second class and below retained
the traditional jumper-style uniform. The first class rating badge
consisted of an eagle, three chevrons, and a specialty mark. The
Master-at-Arms rating badge, however, consisted of an eagle, three
chevrons, a specialty mark, and three arcs or rockers. This jacket along
with the Master-at-Arms rating badge falsely led many people to believe
this was a chief petty officer uniform.
On 25 February 1893, President Benjamin Harrison
issued an executive order outlining the pay scale for Navy enlisted
personnel. This executive order was issued to the Navy as General Order
Number 409. This general order divided the pay scale into rates and for
the first time listed CPOs. Both General Order Number 409 and U.S. Navy
Regulation Circular Number 1 listed chief petty officers as distinct
rates. These documents went into effect on 1 April 1893. All evidence
indicates this as the date the chief petty officer rate was actually
established.
When was the term chief petty officer first
used in the Navy? Based on U.S. Navy Regulation Circular Number 1, the
majority of first class petty officer ratings were automatically
reclassed as chief petty officer ratings.
On 24 September 1894 General Order Number 431 was
issued. This general order changed the three rockers on the
Master-at-Arms rating badge to one rocker. We know this as the rating
badge of the CPO today. This general order also changed first, second,
and third class chevrons to their present-day form.
Petty Officer
The Petty Officer can trace his title back to the old French word
petit meaning something small. Over the years the word also came to
mean minor, secondary and subordinate. In medieval and later England
just about every village had several "petite", "pety" or "petty"
officials/officers who were subordinate to such major officials as the
steward of sheriff. The petty officers were the assistants to the senior
officials.
The senior officers of the early British warships, such as the
Boatswain, Gunner and Carpenter, also had assistants or "mates." Since
the early seamen knew petty officers in their home villages they used
the term to describe the minor officials aboard their ships. A ship's
Captain or Master chose his own Petty Officers who served at his
pleasure. At the end of a voyage or whenever the ship's crew was paid
off and released the Petty Officers lost their positions and titles.
There were Petty Officers in the British navy in the Seventeenth Century
and perhaps earlier but the rank did not become official until 1808.
Petty Officers were important members of our Navy right from its
beginnings and were also appointed by their ship's Captain. They did not
have uniforms or rank insignia, and they usually held their appointments
only while serving on the ship whose Captain had selected them.
Petty Officers in our Navy got their first rank insignia in 1841 when
they began wearing a sleeve device showing an eagle perched on an
anchor. Some Petty Officers wore the device on their left arms while
others wore it on their right. All wore the same device. Specialty or
rating marks did not appear officially until 1866 but they seem to have
been in use for several years previously. Regulations sometimes serve to
give formal status to practices already well established.
In 1885 the Navy recognized it three classes of Petty Officers--first,
second and third--and in the next year let them wear rank insignia of
chevrons with the points down under a spread eagle and rating mark. The
eagle faced left instead of right as it does today.
The present Petty Officer insignia came about in 1894
when the Navy
established the Chief Petty Officer rank and gave him the three chevrons
with arc and eagle. The first, second and third class Petty Officers
also began wearing the insignia they do today.
We Accept Custom Orders - No Artwork Set Up Fees!
Design or Order Queries? Call 1-800 313 1876
or Email Us
Military Plaques Weblog |
