RCN trades

[boots and saddles]

Maybe this is one for RCN.
What duties did a Regulating Petty Officer have that a Petty officer did not? Ray

[servicepub]

The Regulating PO was the ship-borne equivalent of a Regimental Military Police.

[boots and saddles]

Thanks Clive for that Info. So would he(the RPO) wear the Regulator trade badge?. Do you mind if I copy some pictures of your field service caps, I lost my hard drive & everything on it. incl. all my cap pictures & about 80 British formation patches plus all mr button bages & title pictures. I think I can get some from Gopherhole. Ray

[RCN]

Regulating ratings wore as a rate badge a King's Crown & I will show their rate badges when I get to the Regulating & Patrolman branch in the branch writeups that I am currently running on the forum.

Regulating rates were the old pre WWII Ships Police. & they were just that - policemen. They were Petty Officers & may have previously been in another branch prior to transferring to Ships Police. They did not enter the RCN as SP's but started out as Signalmen or Stokers or a Seaman rating & after reaching LS transferred to the SP/Regulating branch. Prior to WWI many of the SP's were former Marines.
New entrants who had had prior civilian police experience could enter directly into the Regulating/Patrolman branch tho.

Their duties consisted of of maintaining order & discipline in both ships & shore bases & carrying out escort duties. They had to have a good working knowledge of clerical matters, record & store keeping duties, handling & routing naval messages, forms, parcels, equipment etc, They had to maintain accurate records of all incoming & outgoing personnel, leave inspections, kit inspections, sick lists, maintaining key registers, managing requestmen & defaulters, & assign ratings to general duty work. They were also responsible for the safe storage of spirits. Ashore & on bases they were responsible for the Patrolman (Shore Patrol) ratings.
Being policeman, many of their shore duties involved the same things that policemen do today - maintaining order & discipline,investigations, arrests, searches, filing reports, care of men underpunishment &/or awaiting trial, use & care of small arms, and the like.

Regulators & Patrolmen reported to the MAA (Master At Arms). The MAA was the senior CPO on a ship or shore base. MAA's were responsible to the Commander for all of the discipline matters on board the ship or base. He was the only naval rating entitled to wear an officer's frock coat & carry an officer's sword.

I have attached below a photo of a MAA & his Regulating staff.
The MAA is standing in the centre & is wearing his sword, belt, & frock coat .
His rate badges are on his lapels of his coat & is a King’s crown enclosed within an open wreath. Two Regulating PO’s are seated in front - the PO on the left you can make out his Regulating crown on his right sleeve.
They are all senior ratings with "time in" - they all wear the Naval LS medal.

It did not take a naval rating long to learn that he did not mess with Regulators, & in the case of the MAA, if he had any sense at all, he just gave the MAA as wide a berth as possible!

Bryan