Navy·Technology obsolescence·In Memoriam
Cooper
Served: 1775–1884
The ship's barrel-maker — built, repaired, and inspected the wooden casks that held water, salt pork, gunpowder, and rum.
The Story
A trained Cooper could build 240 different sizes of cask. His legacy is the word "scuttlebutt" — the cask the crew gathered around for water and gossip. Cooper was one of the original 1775 Navy ratings, paid $18/month aboard USS Constitution.
Epitaph
“Built the cask. Built the scuttlebutt. Built himself out of a job in 1884.”
Sources
- USS Constitution Museum — Ranks & Ratesussconstitutionmuseum.org
- USNI — Obscure Navy Jobsnews.usni.org