Crew, of a ship, is a collective name for all the persons employed therein, but usually limited to designate petty-officers and seamen only. In men-of-war, the entire crew are divided into five groups: (1) Commissioned and warrant officers; (2) chief petty-officers; (3) first-class petty-officers; (4) second-class petty-officers; (5) able seamen, ordinary seamen, non-combatants, and boys. In the royal navy there are upwards of 180 different ranks, grades, or offices among the crew, excluding officers and marines.
In the case of a merchant-ship about to proceed on a foreign-going voyage from a British port, the crew sign the agreement between the shipowner and themselves (usually called 'the articles') in the Mercantile Marine Office in the presence of the officers of the Board of Trade; and on returning to the United Kingdom, the master must lodge the articles at the Mercantile Marine Office within forty-eight hours of his arrival, and the crew are discharged there. Seamen leaving the vessel abroad must be discharged before the British consul, and new engagements abroad must be made before the same official. In the case of vessels in the coasting trade, the crew sign articles on board the vessel, but the agreements are handed over to the Mercantile Marine Offices every June and December. Vessels under 80 tons hand over their crew-lists only, in the same manner. There is no statutory scale for manning British ships, but the Passengers Act requires that a ship carrying emigrants shall be manned with an 'efficient' crew to the satisfaction of the emigration officer clearing her. Owing to improvements in masting and rigging, the use of better mechanical appliances, and the necessity for economical working, merchant-ships' crews are now smaller than in former years, except in the best class of passenger vessels.