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"Three Badge" Able–Seamen
by John M. MacFarlane 2013
Two unidentified ‘Three–badge’ Able–Seamen RCN serving in HMCS Chaudiere 1965. (Photograph from Nauticapedia collection.)
In addition to long service medals, chevrons were once awarded to personnel of the Lower Deck to indicate periods of good service. Chevrons worn on the left arm, (normally under the rate badge), indicated the number of years of ‘good conduct’ that the individual had accumulated. These men are Able–Seamen which (with the rank of Ordinary Seaman) was a rank without a specific rank badge. The badges were in red thread for day–to–day uniforms. They were in navy blue thread on white uniforms, and in gold thread for the most formal occasions.
- 1 chevron – 3 years good conduct
- 2 chevrons – 8 years
- 3 chevrons – 13 years
Good Conduct is now recognized in the RCN (and the other Canadian armed services with the Canadian Forces Decoration (the C.D.) awarded for 12 years service.) Medals for good conduct and long service have been awarded since the establishment of the navy in 1910. The Canadian Forces Decoration is withdrawn from those who have dishonoured themselves and the navy. (Most recently (in 2013) the convicted spy Jeffrey Delisle had his C.D. medal rescinded after the guilty verdict at his trial.)
It was formerly a common punishment for breaches of the Queen’s Regulations to have one or more of these badges removed – so to have three indicated long solid and faithful service.
I have not been able to identify these individuals – if any reader can identify them I would like to add their names to this photograph caption – and to know if they were eventually promoted.
To quote from this article please cite:
MacFarlane, John M. (2013) Three Badge Able-Seamen Nauticapedia.ca 2013. http://nauticapedia.ca/Articles/Chaudiere_ABs.php
Site News: November 2, 2024
The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 94,538 vessel histories (with 16,140 images and 13,887 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters). The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,599 entries (with 3989 images). Vessel records are currently being reviewed and updated with more than 35,000 processed so far this year.
Thanks to contributor Mike Rydqvist McCammon for the hundreds of photos he has contributed to illustrate British Columbia's floating heritage.
My very special thanks to our volunteer IT adviser, John Eyre, who (since 2021) has modernized, simplified and improved the update process for the databases into semi–automated processes. His participation has been vital to keeping the Nauticapedia available to our netizens.
Also my special thanks to my volunteer content accuracy checker, John Spivey of Irvine CA USA, who continues (almost every day) to proof read thousands of Nauticapedia vessel histories and provided input to improve more than 14,000 entries. His attention to detail has been a huge unexpected bonus in improving and updating the vessel detail content.