In my mess, on the destroyer Athabascan (Tribal class, Canadian navy) our killick was always a "master" seaman. From the posts above, the Royal Navy bequeaths this "hat" to a leading seaman. A leading seaman is one rank below a master seaman (in the RCN). An LS has two chevrons while a MS sports a maple leaf (odd...) above his or her two chevrons. The Killick is the master of the particular junior NCO's mess...ie Stoker's mess (which included the helicopter Junior NCOs, the shiprights or hull techs and the electricians as well as the engineers or nore correctly "mechanics" at the junior level.

Each mess has its own killick. The petty officers and above messed together in the "goat" locker. Not a very nice term considering its origins, but traditions are traditions. The "goats" also had a junior NCO to clean up and organise their "locker"...usually called the "cook".

The killick in the RCN is the first real "unreasonably powerful" person junior NCO's have to deal with. The killicks don't usually resort to official lines of discipline to "correct" a junior NCO. Somewhat like the Bosun of the old sailing days. The knotted rope end comes in various forms nowadays.

Hope that helps some. Very interesting thread this.