What do you think?
Rate this book
Blue & Gold Professional Library
The Bluejacket's Manual
In 1902 when Lt. Ridley McLean first wrote this sailor's bible, he described it as a manual for every person in the naval service. One hundred years later, it continues to serve as a primer for newly enlisted sailors and as a basic reference for all naval personnel--from seaman to admiral. New technology is artfully blended with ancient heritage, facts and figures are augmented by helpful advice, and the mysterious language of the sea is preserved and deciphered in a volume that has served the United States Navy for an entire century. Updated throughout, the book provides the latest Navy ratings, uniforms, ships, aircraft, and weapons as well as current Navy policies on hazing, fraternization, education, and physical fitness, and a completely new chapter explaining the Navy's mission in terms of its rich heritage.
The author, winner of the Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Naval Literature, has served the Navy in many capacities, both as an enlisted man and officer, and he brings that experience and his devotion to the service to these pages. He explains new terms and such concepts as leadership and core values in both inspiring and pragmatic terms. Relevant photographs, diagrams, and tables enhance the presentation, and accompanying appendixes include a glossary and a wealth of reference material that every sailor will want to keep at hand.
The author, winner of the Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Naval Literature, has served the Navy in many capacities, both as an enlisted man and officer, and he brings that experience and his devotion to the service to these pages. He explains new terms and such concepts as leadership and core values in both inspiring and pragmatic terms. Relevant photographs, diagrams, and tables enhance the presentation, and accompanying appendixes include a glossary and a wealth of reference material that every sailor will want to keep at hand.
648 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1902
49 people are currently reading
306 people want to read
About the author
U.S. Department of the Navy
2,747 books32 followersThe United States Department of the Navy (DoN) was established by an Act of Congress on April 30, 1798, to provide a government organizational structure to the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps and, when directed by the President (or Congress during time of war), the United States Coast Guard, as a service within the Navy, though each remain independent service branches. The Department of the Navy was an Executive Department and the Secretary of the Navy was a member of the President's cabinet until 1949, when amendments to the National Security Act of 1947 changed the name of the National Military Establishment to the Department of Defense and made it an Executive Department. The Department of the Navy then became, along with the Department of the Army and Department of the Air Force, a Military Department within the Department of Defense: subject to the authority, direction and control of the Secretary of Defense.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
July 26, 2022
Prior to my enlistment in 1980 I came across an old edition of the BJM at the public library and read it cover to cover. Without a doubt it gave me a head start on learning basic seamanship, recognizing rank & insignia, knot tying, and memorizing the all-important 11 General Orders of a Sentry. It is a textbook for Navy 101 and is standard issue for all new recruits—like most other textbooks, its value depends on the motivation and enthusiasm of the student.
May 18, 2018
The bible for Navy sailors and officers. I read my father's version from 1952 as a young man and re-read a later version while I was in the Navy.
June 27, 2011
You'll get issued this if you join the navy. Its got lots of good stuff in it. But don't bother buying a copy before you ship out to basic training - because nothing in this will help you with the tests in boot camp. They give you a different book at boot camp that all of your tests are from, and this book just sits in your rack looking pretty. So calm down, and work on your cardio instead of paying too much for this, you'll get a copy man.
October 13, 2022
Among my late mother's effects were a number of books. The bulk of these were novels, museum books from her travels, and there was also a collection of Shakespeare. I ended up with most of these, including the Shakespeare which I took mostly to spite my wife, who is that rarest of species, the English professor who despises Shakespeare.
One book in particular really stunned me while I was going through the shelves. It was a normal sized hardback volume, although on the thick side, covered in faded blue fabric with a title faded nearly to illegibility. Curious, I flipped it open and was stunned to find "Property of..." my late maternal grandfather, as well as his name stenciled on the inside front cover in very utilitarian block lettering.
The book was his copy of The Bluejackets' Manual. I had never heard of the term Bluejacket and had no idea what this book was about but anything related to my grandfather was a shocking discovery. When my grandparents passed away, their effects were few. I did receive a katana he took as a war trophy from his service in the Navy during WWII. This book is another relic of those times.
There was no time for long investigation--we had but one day to apportion my mother's personal effects as nearly everyone had to leave to get back to work--but the Manual definitely went into my pile. Once I received it from my father--who did an amazing job packing everything off to everyone by himself--I set myself the task of reading it. Today, I finished.
A Bluejacket is the Navy's preferred term for someone in the Navy. Seaman is a rank, so not good as a general term. Squid is a term of derision used by other military branches. The Manual has been in continuous publication since 1902; my grandfather's was the 1943 edition. It is intended to be literally what it says on the tin: The Bluejacket's Manual.
Weighing in at 1145 pages--the largest edition of the Manual ever published--this was the guide to everything, and I do mean everything, a Bluejacket would need to know while serving in the Navy during the largest military conflict the world has ever known. There is very little theory in my grandfather's Manual. This is a book written for men fighting a war that had gone on for very long time, had a theater of operations that is best described as "the whole planet", and had an outcome that was still very much in doubt.
I now--at an extremely basic level--know:
Do all of the duties required to crew, prepare, stock, deploy, recover, sail, and land many different types of small boats carried by Navy ships. Navigate by radio and stars, the interfaces of boat-ship-seaplane signaling, and how to land in a heavy surf. How to anchor a ship (it's a LOT more complex than just letting the thing drop), moor it by anchor, ring buoy, or another vessel.
Safety procedures that are all business, especially when one gets to the emergency procedures they are designed to prevent. Fight fires of a truly terrifying nature, up to and including open tanks of burning fuel oil inside a confined space. Work in compartments with no breathable atmosphere. Make emergency repairs including innumerable types of battle damage. The first aid procedures cover literally everything.
Not only tie knots but the use, splicing, care, repair, and construction of every kind of rope, wire rope, and chain up to truly massive anchor chains.
Endless details about regulations, drill, pay (it wasn't much, by today's standards), exercises, and lots and lots more drills.
Service, aim, repair, and fire everything from a 1911 pistol to bag guns. Bag guns are battleship turret guns that use powder in bags, by the way.
The complex schemes by which everything is painted. Parts of the ship, pipes, a wide variety of shells, bottles of various gasses, etc.
Command a shore force up to a rifle company. Assault a wide variety of towns, villages, and other areas held by the enemy.
Amid the tens of thousands of facts were little tidbits that stick out in my memory. Repeated several times was an exhortation to not swear. Good luck with that one. Nothing should be stored against the inner face of ship armor as it will all be thrown around with extreme violence should that armor take a hit during battle. The deadly seriousness of water-tight door security. A frank admission that the true nature of electricity was, at the time, a mystery. How to arrange everything, and I mean everything including all your personal effects, hammock, uniforms, weapons, and various packs for shore duty for inspection. What faking down a line is and why one would do such a thing. The best way to wake up a man when they're needed in a crisis without disturbing the dozens of other men sleeping in hammocks in the same hallway. Where to aim a bayonet. How to carry a man substantially larger than yourself, by yourself, in a compartment filled with smoke so you have to stay within a foot of the floor, when that man is unconscious. You try carrying somebody bigger than you. It's HARD.
Reading my grandfather's Manual was to peer through a window into another age. It was a deeply moving experience for me; perhaps the only time I ever felt truly connected with a man I had only known as an old guy who owned a nursery in Florida. This unassuming book is now one of my most prized possessions.
One book in particular really stunned me while I was going through the shelves. It was a normal sized hardback volume, although on the thick side, covered in faded blue fabric with a title faded nearly to illegibility. Curious, I flipped it open and was stunned to find "Property of..." my late maternal grandfather, as well as his name stenciled on the inside front cover in very utilitarian block lettering.
The book was his copy of The Bluejackets' Manual. I had never heard of the term Bluejacket and had no idea what this book was about but anything related to my grandfather was a shocking discovery. When my grandparents passed away, their effects were few. I did receive a katana he took as a war trophy from his service in the Navy during WWII. This book is another relic of those times.
There was no time for long investigation--we had but one day to apportion my mother's personal effects as nearly everyone had to leave to get back to work--but the Manual definitely went into my pile. Once I received it from my father--who did an amazing job packing everything off to everyone by himself--I set myself the task of reading it. Today, I finished.
A Bluejacket is the Navy's preferred term for someone in the Navy. Seaman is a rank, so not good as a general term. Squid is a term of derision used by other military branches. The Manual has been in continuous publication since 1902; my grandfather's was the 1943 edition. It is intended to be literally what it says on the tin: The Bluejacket's Manual.
Weighing in at 1145 pages--the largest edition of the Manual ever published--this was the guide to everything, and I do mean everything, a Bluejacket would need to know while serving in the Navy during the largest military conflict the world has ever known. There is very little theory in my grandfather's Manual. This is a book written for men fighting a war that had gone on for very long time, had a theater of operations that is best described as "the whole planet", and had an outcome that was still very much in doubt.
I now--at an extremely basic level--know:
Do all of the duties required to crew, prepare, stock, deploy, recover, sail, and land many different types of small boats carried by Navy ships. Navigate by radio and stars, the interfaces of boat-ship-seaplane signaling, and how to land in a heavy surf. How to anchor a ship (it's a LOT more complex than just letting the thing drop), moor it by anchor, ring buoy, or another vessel.
Safety procedures that are all business, especially when one gets to the emergency procedures they are designed to prevent. Fight fires of a truly terrifying nature, up to and including open tanks of burning fuel oil inside a confined space. Work in compartments with no breathable atmosphere. Make emergency repairs including innumerable types of battle damage. The first aid procedures cover literally everything.
Not only tie knots but the use, splicing, care, repair, and construction of every kind of rope, wire rope, and chain up to truly massive anchor chains.
Endless details about regulations, drill, pay (it wasn't much, by today's standards), exercises, and lots and lots more drills.
Service, aim, repair, and fire everything from a 1911 pistol to bag guns. Bag guns are battleship turret guns that use powder in bags, by the way.
The complex schemes by which everything is painted. Parts of the ship, pipes, a wide variety of shells, bottles of various gasses, etc.
Command a shore force up to a rifle company. Assault a wide variety of towns, villages, and other areas held by the enemy.
Amid the tens of thousands of facts were little tidbits that stick out in my memory. Repeated several times was an exhortation to not swear. Good luck with that one. Nothing should be stored against the inner face of ship armor as it will all be thrown around with extreme violence should that armor take a hit during battle. The deadly seriousness of water-tight door security. A frank admission that the true nature of electricity was, at the time, a mystery. How to arrange everything, and I mean everything including all your personal effects, hammock, uniforms, weapons, and various packs for shore duty for inspection. What faking down a line is and why one would do such a thing. The best way to wake up a man when they're needed in a crisis without disturbing the dozens of other men sleeping in hammocks in the same hallway. Where to aim a bayonet. How to carry a man substantially larger than yourself, by yourself, in a compartment filled with smoke so you have to stay within a foot of the floor, when that man is unconscious. You try carrying somebody bigger than you. It's HARD.
Reading my grandfather's Manual was to peer through a window into another age. It was a deeply moving experience for me; perhaps the only time I ever felt truly connected with a man I had only known as an old guy who owned a nursery in Florida. This unassuming book is now one of my most prized possessions.
September 5, 2012
The Bluejacket's Manual, 15th Edition was issued to me by the US Navy in San Diego, Ca. at the beginning of US Navy "Boot" Camp.
May 23, 2025
[Note: Future entries may depend upon you.]
-Thomas J. Culter, The Bluejacket Manyal, in the “Navy History” chapter
I picked up this 2009 edition of the Navy’s all-encompassing manual at Wonder Book Home and Video store to prep for boot camp. I later found out that this is the same manual that the RDC’s giveout and make you study while at boot camp and began reading a portion of it each day.
Although this is hardly a novel or intriguing story, the flow of content along with the author’s narrative make the reading of this book flow like a personal classroom lecture rather than an impersonal textbook. I rarely if at all found myself bored while reading it because of the countless varying subjects and terminology that was present throughout the book. There are so many useful skills, history, practices, traditions, terminology, stories, and advice that are jam-packed into this Naval atlas that it is difficult to feel stranded on any single chapter.
All that to say that this is not a read I would recommend to anyone simply for reading’s sake. Naval and sailing/maritime enthusiasts may find the majority of this book to be interesting and informative. Other military-manual readers and enthusiasts would also see this as intregal to their collection. Lastly, it is inevitable that all Naval personnel will receive, read, study, and keep The Bluejacket’s Manual.
-Thomas J. Culter, The Bluejacket Manyal, in the “Navy History” chapter
I picked up this 2009 edition of the Navy’s all-encompassing manual at Wonder Book Home and Video store to prep for boot camp. I later found out that this is the same manual that the RDC’s giveout and make you study while at boot camp and began reading a portion of it each day.
Although this is hardly a novel or intriguing story, the flow of content along with the author’s narrative make the reading of this book flow like a personal classroom lecture rather than an impersonal textbook. I rarely if at all found myself bored while reading it because of the countless varying subjects and terminology that was present throughout the book. There are so many useful skills, history, practices, traditions, terminology, stories, and advice that are jam-packed into this Naval atlas that it is difficult to feel stranded on any single chapter.
All that to say that this is not a read I would recommend to anyone simply for reading’s sake. Naval and sailing/maritime enthusiasts may find the majority of this book to be interesting and informative. Other military-manual readers and enthusiasts would also see this as intregal to their collection. Lastly, it is inevitable that all Naval personnel will receive, read, study, and keep The Bluejacket’s Manual.
September 11, 2019
Read it before I enlisted. Obviously- GREAT reading for all sailors, old and young!
February 17, 2020
Still have my Dad's 1944 edition.
Read
August 5, 202014th edition
June 7, 2021
Can. Not. Wait.
December 6, 2021
This is the bible for every sailor in the navy
November 29, 2022
A lovely introduction to the navy. Displays all the basics. From stuff, you learn in boot camp, to straight regulations. Even gives a glimpse into the unique naval culture.
July 6, 2007
They didn't have other editions on goodreads but the one I read was actually a 1944 edition that belonged to my grandfather on my father's side. Being as how the guide to common international naval flags includes Nazi and Imperial Japanese insignia, I think I can guess without ever having seen the current version that pretty much all of the other information has changed too. I remember reading this eagerly as a 13 year old and I have looked through it a few times since. There are some interesting bits about sailing and survival at sea and the like but mostly it is cool as a kind of historical curiosity.
December 17, 2015
A compendium of information about life in the US Navy meant for enlisted recruits. I enjoyed reviewing the navel lingo and way of life as described in this volume. Although I never served, I was always attracted to the Navy, so I admit harboring a fetish for all things naval. From the organization of the Navy, to recognizing ranks, to types of armament, this book address it all on an elementary level. It is long of course, but you can read the chapters that interest you without losing anything. The glossary at the end is worth the investment.
January 26, 2013
How can one give any less than five stars to a part of our history. This book went to World War I, and thankfully returned with its owner. I don't know if the newer versions still teach sailors how to "Brail Up" the sails, and certainly the uniform standards have changed considerably, but as a part of American history it deserves as much honor as the sailors that lifted those sails on the way to war.
September 17, 2015
I inherited my father's copy from the 40s - which I enjoyed reading time and again (I still have it stored in his sea chest).
Comparing the two versions - 1917 to 1948 shows how quickly the Navy advanced between the two World Wars while still retaining the traditions that define the sailor and his life. It is incredible how much had been retained from the age of sail into the age of steel.
Most enjoyable.
Comparing the two versions - 1917 to 1948 shows how quickly the Navy advanced between the two World Wars while still retaining the traditions that define the sailor and his life. It is incredible how much had been retained from the age of sail into the age of steel.
Most enjoyable.
December 5, 2007
I actually have a copy of this book from 1943, the Eleventh Edition. An unbelievable amount of information packed into this one book. My favorite are the illustrations and directions for tying all the differnt sailor's knots.
December 10, 2021
Part of the standard issue of "stuff" to every new sailor in boot camp. Pretty hard to read as I recall and not all that useful. Like all the military branches the Navy was changing a lot in those Vietnam years. Date read is general.
October 23, 2007
Well, this is the centennial edition, the one they issued to me in boot camp I read backwards and forwards, neat stuff in here
March 28, 2009
My Father gave me this book when I was 6. He said it was how we won the War.
I still have it......and open it often. To undestand the Navy, and the Sea, this is a great start.
I still have it......and open it often. To undestand the Navy, and the Sea, this is a great start.
November 18, 2009
I thought I would get a head start before training - required reading during basic training that defines why we, as sailors, display Honor, Courage and Commitment to God and country.
November 10, 2015
When I was way young, I read my fathers copy again and again. Wish I had it still.
July 21, 2011
i think every sailor should be forced to read this...
September 22, 2013
I remember this book from boot camp
September 12, 2016
Was issued this book in US Navy Bootcamp, September 2006.
October 16, 2014
This is a classic. Life skills concisely delivered. Also, great teaching and learning. Once again, another book you never finish even if you have read each page.
Read
May 14, 2014We had to read it...
August 24, 2014
This is a fabulous resource for the new recruit (office or enlisted) and the enlisted sailor. It covers a lot of the basics that you will need to know for life on ship or shore.
July 2, 2014
This book is the Bible to sailors in the U.S. Navy. I rec'd mine in bootcamp in 1978. It's not at all interesting per se, but more like a textbook.
November 29, 2016
I often read my Dad's Navy Blue Jacket Manual. It has beautiful illustrations of their ships.
It covers customs, uniforms, knots, nautical terms, etc. I still have it.
It covers customs, uniforms, knots, nautical terms, etc. I still have it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews