The black gang are the members of a ship's crew who work in the fire room/engine room;[1] they are also called stokers or firemen.[2] They are called "black" because of the soot and coal dust that is thick in the air in the fire room/engine room. The term began being used in the days of coal-fired steamships. The term is commonly used in the United States Coast Guard and United States Navy to describe personnel in "M" and "B" divisions.[citation needed]
![](http://178.128.105.246/cars-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Fire_room_Massachusetts.jpg/220px-Fire_room_Massachusetts.jpg)
References
edit- ^ Santos, Michael (2002). Caught in Irons: North Atlantic Fishermen in the Last Days of Sail. Rosemont Publishing & Printing Company. p. 64. ISBN 1-57591-053-5.
- ^ "Titanic's unsinkable stoker". BBC. Northern Ireland. March 30, 2012.