Royal Navy ranks 1850s/60s.

[Top-of-the-hill]

    I have a list of posts held by my gr.grandfather during his naval service, and just need a bit of clarification. At one stage he was Captain of the mizzen top, then Yeoman of the storerooms, before becoming Captain's cox'n, and finally Admiral's cox'n.
    At which stage did he become Petty Officer?
   I am tidying up my "biography" of him, and thought I would add this bit of information.

[KGarrad]

There is a chart here, which explains the ranks:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petty_officer#United_Kingdom

[pogo99]

Yeoman and Coxswain would mean he was a Petty Officer while holding those positions.As a guess also Captain of the Mizzen Top equates to being in charge of what we now call "part of ship" which in today's Navy is a Petty Officer also,so could be a bit tricky to pin down when he was rated.

[Top-of-the-hill]

  Thanks both. He was on the same ship, Renown, for nearly 4 years and in the first 3 progressed from ordinary seaman to AB, before becoming Captain of the mizzen top.
     I may be getting out of my depth now, but Renown had screw propulsion, presumably also in 1857 a full set of sails? I haven't found a picture yet, but in researching this man's career, I owe a great debt to the website "Ships of the mid-Victorian Navy". I will keep hunting for a picture!

[pogo99]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Artillerieschiff_Renown_01.jpg/1200px-Artillerieschiff_Renown_01.jpg

[Top-of-the-hill]

   Three masts! Presumably that picture dates from after she was sold to the Prussians.

[cpercival]

The HMS Renown of 1857 was a second rate of 91 guns.  Not likely to have had screw propulsion.  When investigating the history of screw propulsion in Royal navy vessels I can find no mention of Renown.  Although screw propulsion was in use by 1857 it was generally confined to steam frigates, certainly not vessels of 91 guns.  The space and weight required for steam engines and coal bunkers would have made carrying that weight of armament problematic.
Although you mention your relative being a Petty Officer it is not clear when he may have been promoted to that rate.  He would likely have been Captain of the mizzen top as a leading seaman.  The other jobs as coxswain could also have been done by a leading hand and almost certainly would have been except possibly in the case of being on the Admiral's staff.

CP

[Top-of-the-hill]

  The screw propulsion was in the website I mentioned above. That was my only source of information. She certainly looks a large vessel in the picture pogo99 found.
   I will just have to hope he was made a petty officer - he served for 20 years and certainly seems to have been well regarded by the captains who gave him references.

[cpercival]

I am happy to stand corrected on the propulsion.  It was during the 1850s that some vessels that had been laid down as sailing ships were modified to take auxiliary steam driven screw propulsion.  Renown is likely to have been one of those.  However the steam propulsion was regarded as auxiliary for manoeuvring and the ships were still fully rigged for sail.
I would hope that he made PO in 20 years.  There were many that served a full career without getting beyond leading hand but, as you say, with the right recommendations I trust he was more successful than that.  My point was that it was not necessary to be a Petty Officer to do all the jobs you referred to.  I wish you luck with your researches and would be happy to help in any way I can.

CP