Plank Owners
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
901 M STREET SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060 Plank Owners
A "plank owner" is an individual who was a member of the crewof a ship when that ship was placed in commission. In earlier years, thisapplied to a first commissioning; since then, it has often been appliedto one who was part of a recommissioning crew as well. "Plank owner"is not an official Navy term, and has consequently been variously definedby different Navy units.
Plank-owner certificates are procured by and issued to crew members of theship being commissioned; they are not officially issued by the Navy. Someships' crews design their own, while others purchase them from commercialsources. Perhaps the best-known of these are the ones sold by the UnitedStates Naval Institute. These color certificates can be obtained asblanks; if the purchaser wishes to provide the necessary information, theycan be filled in for an additional charge.
Illustrations and prices of these certificates can be obtained from theNaval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD 21402.
In the case of ships with wooden decks, if the veteran has a plank ownercertificate or statement of service showing that he was on the ship whenit was commissioned, the veteran can write to the Naval Historical Center'sCurator Branch, and request a pieceof deck planking. If the veteran meets the above criteria and the CuratorBranch has possession of deck planking, the plank owner or his widow canreceive a small section of the deck. For more recent ships with metallicdecks, the Navy is regretfully unable to issue deck sections.
Return To The Information Guide.
Back To The NavSource Main Page.