A Congressional Sword to Stephen Champlin

All of these posts are coming from John Lisle in the us/geneaology post about Stephen Champlin.

After the War of 1812, the U.S. Congress presented Stephen Champlin with a sword for his valued service.

"Captain Stephen Champlin, a cousin of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.  Captain Champlin was commander of the Scorpion and Acting Sailing Master of the Fleet during the Battle of Lake Erie."

"The grip and guard of this sword are of gold and tooled by a master craftsman.  On the single edged blade, on a part of which is etched a scene of the battle, is the inscription  'Stephen Champlin, Actg. Sailing Master, Lake Erie, 10th September 1813.'

"On the other side of the blade is the Latin text which translated reads:  'He who aims highest, rises highest.'  The scabbard is of black leather with ornamented fittings."

A Sword for a Hero.  --Brock-Perry

Master Rank in the U.S. Navy-- Part 2: So As Not To Get Confused

From Wikipedia.

Master, originally sailing master, was a historic warrant officer rank in the United States Navy, above that of a midshipman, after 1819, passed midshipman, after 1862 ensign, and below a lieutenant.

Some masters were appointed to command ships, with the rank of master commandant.  In 1837,  sailing master  was renamed master, master commandant was renamed  commander, and some masters were commissioned as officers, formally  "master in line for promotion" to distinguish them from warrant masters who could not be promoted.

I will write more about this rank in my Running the Blockade: Civil War Navy blog later today.

So, That's What a Sailing Master's Rank Was.  --Brock-Perry

What Is a Sailing Master? --Part 1: Now Lieutenant, Junior Grade in US Navy

From Wikipedia.

I have come across this term in both this blog and my Running the Blockade: Civil War Navy blog (often there with the name acting master) and knew this rank was some sort of an officer or commander of a ship, but not sure exactly what the rank was.

In the last post, I mentioned Stephen Champlin being promoted to sailing master in 1812.  As such, he commanded the USS Asp.

MASTER (NAVAL)

The master, or sailing master,  was a historical rank not used anymore.  It was a naval officer trained in the operation of a sailing vessel.  The rank can be equated with that of a professional seaman and specialist in navigation.

In the British Royal Navy, the master was originally a warrant officer who ranked as a lower lieutenant.

When the United States Navy was formed in 1794, the master was listed as one of the warrant officer ranks and ranked between midshipman and  lieutenants.  It was also a commissioned officer rank until 1837 until it was replaced  with the current rank of lieutenant, junior grade in 1883.

--Brock-Perry