Plank owner

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A "plank owner" (or plankowner) is an individual who was a member of the crew of a ship when that ship was placed in commission. Originally, this term applied only to crew members present at the ship's first commissioning. Today, however, it is often applied to members of a recommissioning crew as well. "Plank owner" is not an official Navy term, and has consequently been variously defined by different Navy units. The origin of the term is the implication that a crew member was around when the ship was being built and commissioned and therefore has bragging rights to the ownership of one of the deck planks in the main deck.^[1][2]

[edit] In U.S. military

Historically, in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard, a plank owner or his widow could petition the Naval Historical Center's Curator Branch when the ship was decommissioned, and receive a piece of the deck. Sailors who are plankowners at their current command often have the word "PLANKOWNER" embroidered on the back of their uniform ball cap to denote this designation and a plaque is placed aboard the ship with the crew names.^[2]