[Bull Snipe]

The first Lieutenant on a Ship is the deck department head.
He is responsible for all of the topside spaces of the ship, the boats, the anchor windless, the capstains etc.
his men moor the ship, drop the anchor, handle unrep operations. On a unrep ship, such as an oiler, ammo ship, etc the First Lieutenant is the senior watch officer. The First Lieutenant, can be a JG, Lt, LCDR, or a CDR, depending on the size of the ship

[dirtboy]

My grandfather was one of four men qualified to conn the ship. The recent book about the Bunker Hill interviewed the engineering officer who was still alive and he was one of those four men. His quote was that the captain needed sleep and the other three did not. I can only imagine what my grandfather went through - in charge of the deck and grabbing whatever sleep he could when he could.