Flint (AE 32) - Naval Cruise Book

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What ' s A Snipe? Ask an engineer what a Snipe is and he ' s like to put his hands on his hips, throw his head back and give you a look that could turn ice cream into cottage cheese. When you ' ve recovered enough to ask someone more responsive, you ' ll find out that ' s what they call a man who works in the engine room. But have you ever wondered where the word came from? Mr. Webster defines Snipe as a wading bird who lives mainly in marshes. The word itself derives from the ancient Danish, though the spelling, sneppe, later evolved into snype when the Angles and Saxons migrated to England. Mr. Shakespeare used the word in Othello to mean a contemp- tible person , but that was in 1604 and by the early 1900 ' s the term was used for workers on railroad gangs. Sometime in the early 1920 ' s the term was applied to engineers aboard Navy ships. But who coined the phrase, or why, is still a mystery. v I Could it be the nickname snipe refers to a hole-dwelling marsh bird. EM2 J P Morgan is an outspoken proponent of this theory. 26

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(LEFT) Regular inspections of all alarm systems are a standard practice for the men of the IC gang, whose work often deals with highly classified equipment. (ABOVE) Reading the acid level in the batteries is one way of making sure they have a full charge. (ABOVE) Trying to track down a short sometimes involves a bit of detective work. (RIGHT) Inspecting a fork lift before use. i ' mm 25

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ETC Burch recalls reading a table of deck seamen of ordered to work down below on the first coal-burning ships. The man who signed the order was reportedly name Snipe. This correlates with other sources who say snipe was once synonymous with black coal gang , the men who fed the boilers. I ■ 27