Sea Scouts (1924-49)
Overview
In 1922, Commander Thomas Keane took over the position of acting director
of the Sea Scout department. Over the next few years, he would revamp
the whole Sea Scout program. A new Sea Scout Manual was produced in
1925. The uniforms and insignia became the familiar seagoing uniform
we know today. The four stage advancement program was put into place.
In 1927, Keene was appointed National Director of Sea Scouting, its first
full-time professional director. During World War II, Keene would be
called to active service in the Navy in 1941 and stepped down as the national
director of Senior Scouting
In 1949, with the rest of the Senior Scouting program, Sea Scouts became Sea Explorers. However, for the most part the program has remained essentially the same to this day. There have been minor changes over the years, however.
Program
The program was a naval style nautical program. Sea Scouts learned about
the sea and other nautical matters and traditions. Sea Scout Ships
were to build their program around 4 "S's": Scouting, Seamanship, Service,
and Social.
The Sea Promise(started in 1920)
As a Sea Scout I promise to do my best--
1. To guard against water accidents.
2. To know the location and proper use of the life saving devices on every
boat I board.
3. To be prepared to render aid to those in need.
4. To seek to preserve the Motto of the Sea, "Women and Children First."
Uniform
Under the new program, Sea Scouts had uniforms similar to that worn by the
Navy: Navy blue for winter months, white for summer, and adult leaders could
also wear khaki uniforms. Youth wore uniforms similar to enlisted naval
personnel, and adult wore uniforms similar to officers. However, changes
were made in the uniforms so that they would not be mistaken for Navy personnel.
For instance, the "Sea Scouts, BSA" strip would be worn, on the blue jumper,
the middle of the three collar strips would be removed, etc. Insignia was
thus developed on both navy blue and white.
To save space, only insignia on blue will be shown. In almost all cases, the same insignia is available on white.
Advancement Program
The new Sea Scout advancement program consisted of four ranks: Apprentice,
Ordinary, Able, Quartermaster. Requirements from the 1940s are HERE.
A special set of rules were put in place that allowed a Sea Scout new to scouting to earn Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class Scout, and from there progress toward Star, Life, and Eagle Scout. Basically the idea was they had to complete the 'missing' requirements for those ranks they had not completed in getting their Sea Scout ranks. Thus an Ordinary Sea Scout who completes the additional requirements of Second Class First Aid, Second Class Tracking, Scout's Pace, and Thrift would earn Second Class Scout, and an Able Sea Scout who completes the additional requirements of First Class First Aid, First Class Judging, and First Class Nature would earn First Class Scout. Now that they where First Class Scouts, they could then earn merit badges, and earn Star, Life, and Eagle. This changed in 1949 when new rules were put in place.
Sea Scouts could also earn Senior Scout titles, and the title patches were
made on navy blue for them. Requirements for them may be found HERE.
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Unit Organization
During this time period, Sea Scout Ships would be organized into Crews, similar
to Patrols in Boy Scout Troops. However, it does not appear that there
were any positions within a Ship equivalent to Senior Patrol Leader other
then that of "Officer of the Deck". The OD was an appointed position, and
may change from meeting to meeting. Crew Leaders may be elected by
the crew or appointed by the ship's officers (adult leaders). The "positions"
of Coxswain, Boatswain's Mate, and Boatswain were actually applied to Crew
Leaders who held the rank of Apprentice, Ordinary, and Able. The idea
was that the chevrons of those positions replaced the bars of the rank.
In 1946, Sea Scout Ship organization was brought in line with other Senior
Scouting units. The position of Senior Crew Leader was established,
and now called Boatswain. His assistant was called the Boatswain's Mate.
Coxswain was applied to Crew Leaders only, irregardless of rank.
| Boy Scout Troop | Sea Scout Ship |
| Scoutmaster | Skipper |
| Assistant Scoutmaster | Mate |
| Senior Patrol Leader | Officer of the Deck |
| Assistant Senior Patrol Leader | N/A |
| Patrol Leader | Boatswain (Able rank Crew Leader) |
| Patrol Leader | Boatswain's Mate (Ordinary rank Crew Leader) |
| Patrol Leader | Coxswain (Apprentice rank Crew Leader) |
| Scribe | Yeoman |
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Council/Regional/National Organization
A structure of committees was developed at the Council, Regional, and National
Levels. These positions were given distinctive insignia. In many
ways, it was this strong committee structure that has probably saved the
basic Sea Scout program over the years from some of the radical changes that
has occurred in the various Senior Scouting programs. Also, in most
cases different terminology was used, both for the positions and for the
levels. Chairman from the National to Districts were called Commodores.
Portmaster was the local District Executive for Sea Scouting, Local Pilot
was the Council Scout Executive, Chief Pilot was the Chief Scout Executive.
| District | Division |
| Council | Squadron |
| Area | Task Force |
| Region | Flotilla |
| National | Fleet |
From 1925 until 1929, the insignia consisted of silver braid under the Sea Scout emblem at the bottom of the sleeve. As I have no scans of the strips based insignia, here is how it looked:
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Miscellaneous
In 1929, the idea of flagship competitions was begun. In this way Sea
Scout ships would try to meet certain criteria to be judges as flagships
at the National, Regional, and Local levels. This would later be picked
up in 1947 for the whole Senior Scouting program and would become first the
Standard Senior Scout Unit program starting in 1948, and later the Standard
Explorer Unit program. The design of the patches matches that of Sea
Scout flags. In 1940/41, these flags switched to being half red/half
blue, and the patches then matched as well.
| 1929 Council Flagship | 1929 Regional Flagship | 1929 National Flagship |
| 1930 Council Flagship | 1930 Regional Flagship | 1930 National Flagship |
| 1931 Council Flagship | 1931 Regional Flagship | 1931 National Flagship |
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1932 Regional Flagship | 1932 National Flagship |
| 1933 Council Flagship | 1933 Regional Flagship | 1933 National Flagship |
| 1934 Council Flagship | 1934 Regional Flagship | 1934 National Flagship |
| 1935 Council Flagship | 1935 Regional Flagship | 1935 National Flagship |
| 1936 Council Flagship | 1936 Regional Flagship | 1936 National Flagship |
| 1937 Council Flagship | 1937 Regional Flagship | 1937 National Flagship |
| 1938 Council Flagship | 1938 Regional Flagship | 1938 National Flagship |
| 1939 Council Flagship | 1939 Regional Flagship | 1939 National Flagship |
| 1940 Council Flagship | 
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1941 Flotilla Flagship | 
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1942 Fleet Flagship |
| 1943 Squadron Flagship | 
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1943 Fleet Flagship |
| 1944 Squadron Flagship | 
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1944 Fleet Flagship |
| 1945 Squadron Flagship | 
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1945 Fleet Flagship |
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1946 Flotilla Flagship | 
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| 1947 Squadron Flagship | 1947 Flotilla Flagship | 
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Another idea of Sea Scouts was that of the "Long Cruise". This was
for a shipboard trip of at least a week in duration. Special patches
were issued, along with arcs for additional Long Cruises. Red arcs
for additional cruises, white for 5 additional cruises.
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In 1938, a special training award for Skippers, equivalent to the Scoutmaster's
Key, was created. This award was discontinued in 1948, after which Skipper's
would receive the Scouter's Key (the now renamed Scoutmaster's Key).
Mates could earn the Scouter's Training Award. They would use the Scouter's
Key and Scouter's Training Award knots, which would be produced on white
and navy blue up until the 1970s, and receive the standard Scouter's Key
and Scouter's Training Award medals. To indicate that the awards were
earned as Sea Scout leaders, the knots and medals would have the small Sea
Scout knot device on them.
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Literature
The new Sea Scout program created by Thomas Keene resulted in a new edition
of the Sea Scout Manual. This would be later revised in 1939.
A Skipper's Handbook was written by Dr. William Menninger, based on his "S.S.S. Kansan Skipper's Aide", and went thru two editions. Not sure how much was taken from the old Aids for Sea Scout Leaders booklet. Later a Crew Leader's Handbook would also be produced.
Several volumes in National's Service Library were written for Sea Scouting. No booklets for any other senior scouting program were produced, though.
A short lived National Sea Scout newsletter was started. National
ended it around 1943 and expected all adult leaders to using Scouting
magazine, and not develop program-specific magazines.
| The Seascout Manual (5th Edition) (#3229)
1st 1925 2nd 1926 3rd 1927 4th 1928 5th 1929 6th 1929 7th 1932,Apr 506p 10000 8th 1932 9th 1933,Nov 10000 10th 1934,Sep 506p 10000 11th 1935,Jun 12th 1936,Jul 506p 10000 13th 1937,Apr 506p 10000 14th 1938,Apr 506p 10000 Capt Felix Riesenberg, editor |
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| Sea Scout Manual (6th Edition) (#3229)
1st 1939,May 698p 50000 2nd 1941,May 25000 3rd 1942,May 4th 1943,Oct 25000 5th 1944,Mar 25000 6th 1945,Feb 16000 7th 1945,May 8th 1945,Nov 25000 9th 1947,Apr 25000 10th 1949,Apr 10000 Carl D. Lane, author; Carl Langenbacher, editor paperback, 698pg |
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| Handbook for Skippers 1st Edition 1st 1934 280p 2nd 1938,Apr 280p 3000 3rd 1936 2nd Edition 1st 1939,May 431p 5000 2nd 1940,Oct 436p 4000 3rd 1942,May 440p (cover design change) 4th 1945,Apr 400p 2500 5th 1947,Sep 314p 5000 Dr. William Menninger, author |
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| Handbook for Crew Leaders 1st Edition 1st 1941,Nov 2nd 1942,Mar 2nd Edition 1st 1946,Apr |
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| Service Library, Series E 3118 Sea Scouts Afloat, 1931 3179 Aids for Sea Scout Leaders, 1931 3189 How to Organize a Sea Scout Ship, 1931 3190 What Sea Scouts Do, 1930 3728 The Sea Scout Patrol, 1930 3728A The Sea Scout Patrol and How it Holds Scouts in the Troop, 1931 3728A The Sea Scout Patrol in a Troop- A Scoutmaster's Opportunity, 1939 |
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| National Sea Scout Log V1, #1 April 1936 first issue V8, #? September 1943 last issue |
NO PICTURE |
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| 1924 | ? | ? | ? |
| 1925 | ? | 85 | ? |
| 1926 | ? | 123 | ? |
| 1927 | ? | ? | ? |
| 1928 | ? | ? | ? |
| 1929 | ? | ? | ? |
| 1930 | 8043 | ? | ? |
| 1931 | 10471 | ? | ? |
| 1932 | 14863 | ? | ? |
| 1933 | 18326 | ? | ? |
| 1934 | 19448 | ? | ? |
| 1935 | 20858 | ? | ? |
| 1936 | 20759 | ? | ? |
| 1937 | 19483 | ? | ? |
| 1938 | 23405 | ? | ? |
| 1939 | 26425 | ? | ? |
| 1940 | 27561 | ? | ? |
| 1941 | 27715 | ? | ? |
| 1942 | 26332 | ? | ? |
| 1943 | 24775 | ? | ? |
| 1944 | 24951 | ? | ? |
| 1945 | 24927 | ? | ? |
| 1946 | 26204 | ? | ? |
| 1947 | 26711 | ? | ? |
| 1948 | 22988 | ? | ? |
| 1949 | 22557 | ? | ? |
Statistics taken from BSA Annual Reports to Congress
Updated: 03/28/2003mrb