coxswain is it bosun? I ask because in the tempest shakespeare opens with "boatswain" and when I saw it live I realized it was pronounced "bosun" but I didn't know if the spelling changed?
a google will answer this!
they are interchangeable!
also she just kind of ignored it after I finally convinced her someone was getting their fuck on and then it got really loud so I had to call the front desk.
A boatswain is a bosun which is a sort of manager of the deck crew. Not an officer yet but more like head coxswain.
a coxswain is an AB which are the brunt of the deck crew, they steer the ship and maintain it.
From my experience bosuns nowadays can be real pussies and won't stand up for the crew. I hope one day I get to be a bosun though but its pretty hard unless you get a captain/company to vouch for you, fucking political bullshit...
and I can see how you thought it was interchangeable because in reality they are basically the same thing, but the boatswain has more sway on what goes on on the ship and he can call the union on a mate's/captain/engineer's ass if he has to. Plus they make alot more money.
THE SAME GUY YOU'RE GOING TO EVENTUALLY HAVE TO TELL TO FUCK OFF BECAUSE HE'S ABUSING POWER IS GOING TO HAVE TO GIVE YOU A RECOMMENDATION SO YOU CAN BE A BOSUN! Its pretty stupid and yeah there are other ways to be a bosun, but you've got to have connections or be notorious enough for people to want you as a bosun.
