Torpedoman's Mate (TM) Rating is BACK

The silent service spoke, and the Navy listened.

During an April all hands call convened by then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson at Washington’s Naval Base Kitsap, sailors wondered if he could resurrect the submarine torpedoman’s mate rate.

It was absorbed into the machinist’s mate rate in 1995, but on Tuesday [October 1, 2019] it was born again.

Machinist’s mates assigned to subs last night transformed into torpedoman’s mates, a change the Navy said “will renew the heritage and pride" among those who man the tubes, according to an announcement posted Monday.

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.

The torpedoman rating was launched in 1921 and renamed torpedoman’s mate 21 years later.

On Oct. 1, 1995 torpedomen on subs began the process of being folded into the machinist’s mates (weapons) rating.