Boiler Technician (BT) — Discontinued

RATING EVOLUTION

1. // Decommissioned · 1996
   BT
   Boiler Technician
   1948–1996
2. // Active Today · Successor
   MM
   Machinist's Mate
   View active rating →

WHY THE RATING WAS DISCONTINUED

Merged into the Machinist's Mate (MM) rating in 1996 as the Navy retired the last steam-propulsion combatants and reduced the need for a dedicated boiler-specialist pipeline.

OVERVIEW

Boiler Technician (BT) was the U.S. Navy's enlisted steam-boiler rating. BTs operated and maintained the conventionally-fired (oil-fired) boilers, burners, fuel-oil service systems, and feed-water plants aboard every Navy steam ship from the late 1940s through the mid-1990s. They were the "snipes" of the fireroom — working in some of the hottest, loudest, and most demanding spaces aboard ship.

BT was disestablished on 30 September 1996 as the Navy retired the last steam-powered conventionally-fired combatants and the rating's career field shrank below the threshold for a separate pipeline. Active-duty BTs converted to Machinist's Mate (MM), with the steam-boiler skill preserved as an MM sub-specialty for the few remaining steam ships and for amphibious assault ships' steam plants.

WHAT THEY DID

Boiler Technicians operated and maintained ship's boilers, burners, fuel-oil service systems, feed-water systems, and steam piping; stood underway watches as Boiler Technician of the Watch and Burnerman; performed boiler light-off and securing evolutions; conducted preventive and corrective maintenance on boiler-room equipment; and ran the fireroom division. Senior BTs supervised the M Division's boiler watchstanders and ran the steam-engineering casualty-control program.

NOTABLE FOR

• Operated every Navy steam-propulsion plant from WWII through the late Cold War
• "Snipes" who manned the firerooms of conventionally-fired ships — boilers, burners, fuel-oil systems
• Source rating for the steam-propulsion side of the modern MM rating

HISTORY

Boiler Technician was established in 1948 (originally Boilermaker) and renamed Boiler Technician in 1972. From the late 1940s through the 1980s, the BT rating manned the firerooms of every conventionally-fired Navy ship: World War II-era cruisers, destroyers, frigates, and amphibious ships, plus the Knox-, Spruance-, and Forrestal-class steam combatants of the Cold War.

As gas-turbine propulsion (Spruance-class destroyers, Ticonderoga-class cruisers, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers) and nuclear propulsion (carriers and submarines) replaced conventional steam, the BT career field shrank dramatically. The Navy disestablished BT effective 30 September 1996, merging the rating into MM and consolidating all engineering-mechanical work under a single rating.

TYPICAL PLATFORMS & UNITS

• Steam-powered surface combatants — Knox-, Spruance-, and Forrestal-class through the late 1990s
• Amphibious assault ships with steam plants — Tarawa-class, Wasp-class
• Pre-1990 cruisers, destroyers, and frigates

HISTORICAL CAREER PATH

1. E-1/E-3
   Apprentice BT
   Recruit Training followed by BT A-school at Naval Engineering School Center, Great Lakes, IL; first tour with a fleet unit.
2. E-4/E-6
   Petty Officer BT
   Lead a BT work-center, qualify in core watchstations, and serve as the rating's section leader.
3. E-7+
   Chief Boiler Technician
   Senior BT leader — Leading Chief Petty Officer of a BT division, instructor at the rating's A-school, or detailer at BUPERS until rating disestablishment in 1996.

SUCCESSOR RATINGS (ACTIVE TODAY)

• MM · General Surface & Combat
  Machinist's Mate

FOR VETERANS & FAMILIES

If a DD-214, retirement order, or family-history document lists the rating BT (Boiler Technician), that is a legitimate U.S. Navy enlisted rating that was disestablished in 1996. Sailors who held this rating served in the general surface & combat community during 1948–1996.

The mission of BT is performed today by Machinist's Mate (MM). For VA benefits, MOS/rating-translator services, or transcript-of-service requests, reference both the historical BT rating code and the modern successor.

Official records: National Personnel Records Center (St. Louis, MO) holds U.S. Navy enlisted service records for veterans separated more than 62 years ago; later records are held by Navy Personnel Command in Millington, TN.

RELATED HISTORICAL RATINGS

Other decommissioned ratings whose mission was absorbed by the same active rating(s) as BT:

• OM · Decom 1995
  Opticalman
• IM · Decom 2007
  Instrumentman

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• When was the Boiler Technician (BT) rating disestablished?
  The BT rating was disestablished in 1996. Merged into the Machinist's Mate (MM) rating in 1996 as the Navy retired the last steam-propulsion combatants and reduced the need for a dedicated boiler-specialist pipeline.
• What rating did Boiler Technician (BT) become?
  The successor rating is machinists mate. Active-duty BTs converted to the new rating(s) at disestablishment.
• What did a Navy Boiler Technician (BT) do?
  Boiler Technicians operated and maintained ship's boilers, burners, fuel-oil service systems, feed-water systems, and steam piping; stood underway watches as Boiler Technician of the Watch and Burnerman; performed boiler light-off and securing evolutions; conducted preventive and corrective maintenance on boiler-room equipment; and ran the fireroom division. Senior BTs supervised the M Division's boiler watchstanders and ran the steam-engineering casualty-control program.
• Can I still claim the BT rating on my record?
  Yes — your DD-214 and Navy service record reflect the rating you held. The BT rating was a valid U.S. Navy enlisted rating from 1948 until 1996, and veterans who served in BT continue to use the rating designation in records, reunions, and veteran-affairs paperwork.

SOURCES

• Naval History and Heritage Command — U.S. Navy Ratings History
• NAVADMIN / OPNAV historical-rating disestablishment notices
• U.S. Navy Enlisted Career Path Reference — Boiler Technician