Since the days of sailing ships, one seaman, the Boatswain, (pronounced Bosun) and his assistants (called Bosun’s Mates) has held the position of  “overseer of the deck”.  He commanded the rabble of discontents commonly found aboard sailing ships, ordering their labors to properly set and trim sails, rigging, anchors and cables.  In the modern maritime, the bosun’s bailiwick has been modernized to bossing a smaller, paid, international crew monitoring electric mooring winches, cargo security on container ships, safety of automobiles carried below decks and the working condition of topside equipment.  In his spare time, his workers protect the ship from rust by continually painting the exposed hull and deck.

  The bosun’s commands to deck hands of old, when ships were made of wood and men of steel, could be heard over a howling wind and the slapping of sails and rigging by the shrill, commanding notes he blew from his “Bosun’s Pipe”.  The pipe, shown above, was held in one hand, its pea-pod shape easily fitting in the palm, producing two shrill notes, one high, one low when the Bosun blew into the stem.  The deck crew’s duty orders were made, loud and clear,  by the unique timing of the high and low piercing sounds.  No one on, or below deck, could say, “I never heard the command!”  The pipe was not to be denied.

     Skilled in Naval protocol, he “piped aboard” visiting royalty, ambassadors, dignitaries and ship commanders on their courtesy calls aboard ship, timing the first of his pipe’s notes to the visitor’s foot stepping on deck.  When visiting foreign ports of call, he would pipe the raising and lowering of colors (his ship’s national flag and the commander’s personal pennant) as the vessel entered the host’s port  These traditions are maintained today, though the sound is computer generated and broadcast through the ship’s public address system.

  The “piping” heard on this web page is the “ALL HANDS” alert, announcing an important message from the ship’s commander, the change of watch, or the daily order:

       “Sweepers, man your brooms; Clean sweep down, fore and aft!”