US Navy Electrician's Mate Rating Patch

The two flags under the globe are Echo and Mike, the letters E and M in signal flags, repeating the rating stitched in white on either side. Electrician's Mate is the rating that keeps a ship's power on, from the generators and switchboards to the lighting circuits and motors in every space. EMs stand watch on that equipment underway, test for shorts and grounds, and rebuild what fails in the shop. Everything that runs on electricity aboard ship runs through their gear.

The Navy first established an Electrician rating in 1883, disestablished it in 1884, and brought it back in 1898 at chief, first and second class. Third class followed in 1900. In 1921 the rating became Electrician's Mate, the title stitched on this patch, and it has carried that name for more than a century. An EM's watch station is the generators, switchboards and control equipment, and his shop work runs from power and lighting circuits to motors and solid-state components. Testing for short circuits and ground faults is part of the daily routine.

The patch is the familiar rating shape, wider than it is tall, edged in a navy blue merrowed border. UNITED STATES NAVY arcs in navy letters across the gold band at the top, and ELECTRICIAN'S MATE runs along the gold band at the bottom. In the center field, framed in white, a red globe crossed with meridians and parallels sits between a tall white E and M. Echo and Mike fly beneath it, one blue over red and the other a white cross on blue. It measures 4.5 by 3.25 inches.

EMs belong to the engineering department, the snipes, but their work reaches every compartment from the bridge to the shaft alley. When power drops, it is an EM who gets the call and an EM who finds the fault. The rate runs from fireman to master chief, and every class is built on the same watches, the same tests and the same shop work. Sailors who wore it tend to keep the habit of checking a circuit before trusting it.

It fits a shadow box with a ship's plaque and the crow from a last set of blues, or the vest worn to a ship's reunion. It also makes a gift for a father or grandfather who spent his watches on the switchboard. The patch has an iron-on backing and can also be sewn on. The EM rate, in two letters and two flags.