Workday Wednesday- Laverne V Phillips

Laverne V. Phillips was born 19 Feb 1919 Washington according to his death index.
His parents were Scott C Phillips & Grace Marie Amick.

In 1940 he was living in Butler, Sanborn, SD at age 21 with his parents and siblings, Lawrence, Imogene Emma, and Eunice.

By 1943 Laverne was employed aboard the "Shawnee" on 26 Aug 1943 at age 24 yrs old. He was 5'1 weighing 190 lbs and this was his first time at sea. He left New York port, destination unknown. He was a Messman (see definition below).

Messman- Occupation

A steward's assistant (SA) is an unlicensed, entry-level crewmember in the Steward's department of a merchant ship. This position can also be referred to as steward (the usual term on British ships), galley utilityman, messman, supply , waiter or General Steward (GS).

New York Passenger List

According to the next passenger list I found he must of been promoted to a Waterender (See Definition below). 2 Aug 1945 he was aboard the "Edmund B. Alexander" Length of stay 3 years. From New York to Cherbourg, France.

Edmund B. Alexander

Watertender- Occupation

A watertender is a crewman aboard a steam-powered ship who is responsible for tending to the fires and boilers in the ship's engine room. Alternative terms include fireman and stoker.

In the United States Navy, "watertender" (abbreviated WT) was a petty officerrating which existed from 1884 to 1948. Watertenders held a paygrade equivalent to today's petty officer first class. A chief watertender (CWT) paygrade was established in 1903. In 1921, the lower paygrade was split into watertender first class (WT1 or WT1c) and watertender second class (WT2 or WT2c). Another lower paygrade, watertender third class (WT3 or WT3c), was established in 1943. The watertender and boilermaker ratings were merged into a new "boilerman" rating in 1948, which merged into "machinist's mate" in 1996.

WT also stood for Weapons Technician, a rate established in 1986 from enlisted who were Gunners Mate Technicians. The Gunners Mate Technicians were created from the NW (Nuclear Weaponsman) rating in 1962 and the NW rating was established in 1958. The Weapons Technician rating was disestablished in 1995 concurrent with the removal of tactical nuclear weapons from the fleet.