{"id":14811,"date":"2019-10-01T18:55:47","date_gmt":"2019-10-01T18:55:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/01\/dead-for-decades-the-torpedomans-mate-rating-is-born-again\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:52:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:52:52","slug":"dead-for-decades-the-torpedomans-mate-rating-is-born-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/home\/left-column\/2019\/10\/01\/dead-for-decades-the-torpedomans-mate-rating-is-born-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Dead for decades, the torpedoman\u2019s mate rating is born again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The silent service spoke, and the Navy listened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During an April all hands call convened by then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson at Washington\u2019s Naval Base Kitsap, sailors wondered if he could resurrect the submarine torpedoman\u2019s mate rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was absorbed into the machinist\u2019s mate rate in 1995, but on Tuesday it was born again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Machinist\u2019s mates assigned to subs last night transformed into torpedoman\u2019s mates, a change the Navy said \u201cwill renew the heritage and pride” among those who man the tubes, according to an announcement<\/a> posted Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of a force of roughly 21,000 sailors, the reestablished rating affects nearly 1,100 personnel, according to Submarine Force Atlantic spokeswoman Cmdr. Jodie Cornell.<\/p>\n\n\n\t