Examples from literature

• A boatswain on board an English ship-of-war is a more important personage than he is apt to be on board an American. 
• The boatswain and carpenter, and also the clerk, Mr. Samuel, were allowed to come upon deck. 
• The boatswain had power to beat the laggards and the ship's boys with a cane, or with a piece of knotted rope. 
• The boatswain, gunner, and carpenter, who are called the warrant-officers, always remain on board, even when the rest of the officers and crew are paid off, and the ship laid up in ordinary. 
• This boatswain was a young man, who had been for some years a follower of the Admiral in different ships, and to whom he had just given a warrant.