Naval rank question

[Texas Star]

In movies and TV anyway, Navy people call the CO "skipper."
What is the origin of that term in that role?

Do sailors really call the boss the skipper?

 

[Tyrod]

Gilligan's Island

 

[Targets Guy]

Cops do it too. Jesse Stone's deputy called him "skipper" all of the time. Until he was car bombed.

 

[Targets Guy]

Skipper is an analogous term for Captain of a ship (small ferry/fishing boat sometimes) as in Captain of a team. The word originated from Middle Dutch age (14th century) as schipper, from schip (ship).

About 1350 - 1400 AD.

 

[ditrina]

Skipper is not a rank, but a term of respect..

The actual word is derived from the Dutch word schipper which is actually a term that means ship.

The Skipper will not always be the highest ranking person on the vessel. If the vessel is transporting troops there may well be those on board that are senior but as long as they are on the boat the skipper is the man in charge.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

A skipper is a person who has command of a boat or ship. The word is derived from the Dutch word schipper; schip is Dutch for "ship".
It is more or less equivalent to "captain".
Remember when I told about my Buddy Rod who was the Commander of a gun type Destroyer in Nam.
He said that crewmembers always asked him Skipper, When do we Shoot again?
That would be a fire support mission supporting the Marnes down near DaNang.
He would always respond the same, When I know, you'll know.

 

[ditrina]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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Google is your friend X3 .

 

[Lee in Quartzsite]

Years ago we had a dog named "Skipper" and he loved Skippy dog food. My daughter loved Skipper and often fed him some of her Skippy peanut butter sandwiches.

As for the Navy, I always called my CO "Sir" or Captain...can't remember anybody using the term Skipper.

 

[Kevin G]

If you listen to a radio conversation between a civilian boat and the Coast Guard, the Coastie often addresses the other party as "Skipper".
Aboard merchant ships I sailed on the term skipper was not widely used.
In an informal setting with captains I was familiar with and respected I often used the term "Cap". In a more formal setting, or a man I wasn't familiar with I addressed them as "Captain".
With a man I had a little respect for I avoided any term or use of the word "Sir".
Kevin

 

[Texas Star]

Well, I knew it wasn't a Naval rank, but a slang term.

I suspect that whether it's used to the man's face depends largely on his personality and who's speaking to him.

 

[Texas Star]

Years ago we had a dog named "Skipper" and he loved Skippy dog food. My daughter loved Skipper and often fed him some of her Skippy peanut butter sandwiches.

As for the Navy, I always called my CO "Sir" or Captain...can't remember anybody using the term Skipper.

I had a dog named Skippy, too. Border collie. He was injured badly by a car and never healed right. My parents had the vet put him down while I was at school one day. I grieved for a long time.

It never occurred to me to feed a dog or cat peanut butter. I didn't know it was safe for them.

To keep this gun-related, didn't Charlton Heston, later NRA President, do ads for Skippy peanut butter back in the 1960's?

 

[THE PILGRIM]

So I walk into a restaurant in Chinle, AZ.
I see a big table of folks wearing Navy Uniforms.
I run back out into the parking lot to see if I missed a Ship docked there!
Actually I didn't. I knew who they were.
The US Public Health Services Officers wear USN uniforms.
These were folks from a local hospital.

 

[UncleEd]

I've always thought it was mighty modest of a colonel calling
himself a captain in Navy rankings.

But seriously, I've a relative who said when he was a lieutenant
and make a call to an Army or Marine counterpart, the
captain on the other end would snicker.

And naturally a chief is a heap big more important man
than those ossifers.

 

[S&WIowegan]

Skipper is an analogous term for Captain of a ship (small ferry/fishing boat sometimes) as in Captain of a team. The word originated from Middle Dutch age (14th century) as schipper, from schip (ship).

About 1350 - 1400 AD.

To add a bit of trivia here; the international airport that serves Amsterdam is named Schiphol Airport. I specifically asked a cab driver what the name meant. He claimed the area where the airport is now was used to abandon old ships and became known as Schiphol.

 

[Tom S.]

Skipper is not a rank, but a term of respect..

I don't know, some of them have looked pretty rank to me.

 

[vigil617]

To put a bit finer point on it:

In the Coast Guard, and I believe in the Navy as well, "skipper" is most commonly used for the commanding officer of smaller ships or cutters, or boats (less than 65' long) which translates to a rank of Lieutenant (O-3) for officers, Chief Warrant and Warrant Officers (CWO2, 3, and 4 and W-1), and Chiefs (E-9 to E-7). On those vessels, the crew members are likely to have more day-to-day contact with the C.O., and using the term "skipper" becomes a term of appropriate respect combined with familiarity. In my experience, a Commander (0-5) or above would never be called "skipper" by the crew, the chiefs, the officers, or even the XO.

New captains of small ships and boats consider it a milestone in their relationships when their crews begin to refer to them as "skipper" instead of the more formal "captain."

As Kevin pointed out, radio comms between Coast Guard units and civilian boats and ships can include references to their captains as "skippers," but again, in my experience, the larger the vessel, the more likely the captain will be referred to by that title. The top guy on any vessel large enough to require that a captain have a license, for sure, will be referred to as captain.

 

[les.b]

Hey, T-S.....

My first dog was also called Skippy!! It's been several years ago, though!!!:

Best Regards, Les

 

[jag312]

There is a difference between a captain of a ship and an officer with the Naval rank of Captain. The captain of a ship can be a Captain or someone with a lower rank than Captain. Big C, little c. My father could have explained it better.

 

[Fishslayer]

IIRC most of us shipboard referred to him as "the old man."

 

[usmc2427765]

In the USMC, a company commander( usually a captain ) is sometimes referred to as " skipper" by the troops, sometimes to his face by senior enlisted and junior officers. It is a term of respect. I can think of no greater sign of respect for the company commander of a Marine rifle company in combat.