Coxswain and Boatswain

As required by 17th Century law, British ships-of-war carried three smaller boats: the boat, the cock-boat, and the skiff.  The boat, also called the gig, was usually used by the Captain to go ashore and was the larger of the three.  The cock-boat was a very small rowboat used as the ship's tender. The skiff was a lightweight all-purpose vessel, generally with a flat bottom. The suffix "swain" means keeper, thus the keepers of the boat, cock, and skiff were called boatswain and cockswain (or coxswain).
Today, any boat used by a ship's Captain is referred to as the gig.  Embarked Admirals use a boat referred to as the barge.  Skiffs are generally aluminum and are used for painting the sides of the ship.
In common use, boatswain is usually shortened to bo'sun.  A ship's bo'sun is the senior member of the deck hands.  The coxswain mans the helm (rudder) of a ship's boat when underway.

A coxswain or cockswain was at first the swain (boy servant) in charge of the small cock or cockboat that was kept aboard for the ship's captain and which was used to row him to and from the ship. The term has been in use in England dating back to at least 1463. With the passing of time the coxswain became the helmsman of any boat, regardless of size. 

Another reference defines “Swain” or Swein” as Anglo-Saxon for servant. Boatswain refers to the warrant or petty officer in charge of the deck crew.

Naval Time and Watches

Ship Organisation

There is no room for passengers in a warship. Everyone on board must have a job to do and jobs must be so arranged that they do not overlap. If one pair of hands or one brain in a ship is idle when it shouldn't be, that ship is running less efficiently than it should.

By tradition and by necessity, sailors are jacks-of-all-trades, but in this age of complicated equipment and crowded ships it has also become necessary for a sailor to become master of at least one trade. A ship is organized in such a way that the men of all trades work together to form a team. That is, the work of the men of one trade complimets or adds to that of all the other trades and so on, until everyone is working efficiently and all jobs are being done. It is necessary then. to allocate certain particular jobs to men of certain trades.

Naval Time and Watches

In a ship, the day is divided into watches, and the watches are divided into half-hour periods. At the end of every half hour period the ship's bell is struck. The 24-hour clock is used instead of the usual 12-hour variety.

Watches are as follows;               

0000 - 0400  middle watch               

0400 - 0800  morning watch

0800 - 1200  forenoon watch

1200 - 1600  afternoon watch

1600 - 1800  first dog watch

1800 - 2000  last dog watch

2000 - 0000  first watch

Each of the 4-hour watches begins and ends with 8 bells. At the end of the first half hour of the watch 1 bell is struck; at the end of the second half hour 2 bells; the third half hour, 3 bells, and so on until at the end of the eighth half hour, or the end of the watch, 8 bells are struck.