Hi all, My name is Di and I am a volunteer member of the Victorian Maritime Centre Museum at Crib Point in Victoria Australia. It is a work in progress facility collecting information about RAN and Australian Merchant Seamen/Women. We have the former HMAS Oberon Class submarine OTAMA and the former Port Phillip Pilot ship the MV WYUNA as our main features. Australian Maritime history is our passion (see our website at: www.maritimecentre.com.au) We are setting up a research library as donations or purchases are received and catalogued. We have nothing on the Small Ships US of WW2 and I had a query about what rank the 3 stripes were on a vistor's father's shoulders. They were (I'm guessing) about 1 inch wide each and were white as far as I can work out from the photo. I would appreciate any advice s to what they mean. Thanks for reading my post. Cheers, Di VMC volunteer
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/nav_legacy.asp?id=266 For the US navy 3 stripes would be a O-5 Commander. Unless you mean 3 diagonal lines on the shirt sleeve which would be an E-3 Seaman.
Hi Pacifist, Thank you for your reply. I had a look at the link and there is nothing like what I am after. From the website which indicates they came under the US Army which this fellow did. http://www.usarmysmallships.asn.au/index.html [SIZE=12pt]The men and boys of the US Army Small Ships, who by their age or physical condition were not eligible for service in their own country's military forces and were hired by the US Army Small Ships Section, helped to create history in the battle for the South West Pacific during World War II. [/SIZE] Would that make a difference to the rank? The stripes were on the shoulder of the jacket and the uniform was a light coloured one. Does that make sense? Cheers, Di
If the small ships were part of the Army, ranks were like this: If it looks like this, go to this site for more information http://36thair3ad.homestead.com/EnlistedRankInsignia.html If this is not correct I would hope you can post a photo so we can be of more help.
IIRC, 3 stripes on the shoulder board would designate the person as a first officer aboard ship. If you could post a picture, it would be helpful.
Hi all, I have managed to get a copy of the stripes I asked about and I hope you can see them clearly enough as this is the only image the son has of his Dad. A question? How do I put an image on here please? Di
If the photo is on your hard drive... In the "Reply to this topic" area, click on the "More Reply Options" box - this will open up the full editor. From there, you should be able to see the "Attach Files" area. Use the "Browse" box to find the file on your hard drive, then click the "Attach This File" box to the attachment(NOTE - the file size limit is 500kb). Preview the post to make sure is OK, then click on the "Add Reply" to post your message with photo.
Hi all, Firstly thank you for the help in putting this image on here. I hope someone can identify these stripes. Thanks, Di View attachment 22588
I have received the following information on Vance's uniform The lapels he wears on the photo are those of First Officer, U.S. Army Transportation Corps. If he was an Australian, he was a civilian employee. In this case the uniform is not considered a 'uniform'. Even though he he may have been a First Officer. Employees were issued trousers, shirt, underwear, sometimes boots. The caps were bought in Australia or in the combat zone where they were supplied to crews by Small Ships Officers. The cap badges were made in Brisbane.
Well, if he was American, he was also a probably a civilian, USAT ships were crewed by civilians, although officers were sometimes commissioned into the US Army. "First Officer" is not a military rank, but a maritime/civilian one. The First Officer is either 2nd or 3rd in the ship's chain of command - larger ships would have a Chief Officer assigned, thus the First Officer would be 3rd in line. While on smaller ships it would just be the Master and then the First Officer(the First Officer assuming the duties of Chief Officer, as well as his own). Basically, without a Chief Officer, the First Officer was the equivalent of a navy's Executive Officer. The uniform is not a "military" one per se, but it follows the basis of the Merchant Marine and other civilian shipping lines. All of which had their ship's officers in uniform, so as to maintain discipline and the chain of command. Practically speaking, the officer uniforms tended not to be worn aboard ship, and were only used when required.
