Sticking with the recent theme of new guys on the job, today’s word is exactly what it means. A sailor was worthless to his ship until he learned the ropes, most notably on a sailing ship. After a short training period which may seem intense to a sailor today, the new man was ready to take is spot with the crew. Then he could be put to use and be a worth while member of the crew.

Since sailing ships have so many different ropes it was important that a crew member knew which rope was which. If the wrong rope was tightened or loosened, it could cause the ship serious problems. This was also a form of cross training. A person manning a gun might never be called upon to go aloft and work the lines, but if he was needed, he could do so with little or no direction. Likewise is a man who normally would man the sails as his battle station. He would be able to take another station as needed during battle.

This type of training was important in the early days of sail. Long voyages across open water could cause problems not faced before. Men would get sick and die when not engaged in combat. So when combat did happen the ship might be short staffed, but cross training helped reduce this factor. Today’s the US Navy does the same thing. Every person knows two or more jobs on the ship.

During formal training at Naval prep-school students were given classes in line handling as well as knot tying. This sounds very similar to the old scouting days for those of us who took part. Young person who had dreams of becoming a Naval officer needed to learn these skills before they were to head to a ship and expect men to follow them.
We use this term today when referring to a new guy at work. “He needs to learn the ropes around here.” But when you work around CNC machinery there are not many ropes to learn.