Gilberto Diaz Castro Nov 22, 2009:

Please, more context As posted before, we are beating around the bush because we don't have enough contexts to hit the target. Please, allow us to help you.

Christine Walsh Nov 22, 2009:

Thank you so much! Christine Walsh

MJ Barber Nov 22, 2009:

chriswa, I found this: http://www.histarmar.com.ar/InfHistorica-2/AporteExtr-5.htm

it's full of typos but is interesting enough, and at least has terms in both languages. Contramaestre, as far as I understand, is the boatswain (bosun). The term "mate" refers to a "segundo" or ayudante, in this case probably the bosun's mate.

Christine Walsh Nov 22, 2009:

Great explanation! So would 'cédula de contramaestre' be ok here, or can you post something? Do you know of a good site that clarifies this sort of thing? I mean, naval terms in the old days in English, Spanish or both. It's something that interests me beyond just answering questions. Many thanks

MJ Barber Nov 22, 2009:

Warrant officers were not "officers" (I thought I posted this earlier, but it seems to have gone missing) Although there was a certain amount of meritocracy in the navy, compared to, say, the army, where commissions could be bought, officers were drawn from the corps of midshipmen, normally well-off young men who bought in aged 13-15, and who studied navigation and other skills necessary to run a ship then had to pass an exam to become a lieutenant. Warrant officers were drawn from the "men" and were skilled in a certain art and could handle the tasks inherent to a certain area of ship management - i.e. mates, bosuns (este es el contramaestre), carpenters, etc. They also passed an exam to reach this grade, but usually (not always) this was as high as they could expect to rise (Captain Cook started out a lowly sailor, for example).

Gilberto Diaz Castro Nov 22, 2009:

Context Please Warrant is one of those words with so many meanings it is of outmost importance that we have the WHOLE sentence it is on. The meanings are too many to write. See: http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-spanish/warrant

Christine Walsh Nov 22, 2009:

According to Oxford Dict. warrant officer n. suboficial mf