With regard to OD

It does sort of refer to Ordinary Seaman, but the real meaning is more colloquial. An OD is a "bit of a lad", or a "jack the lad". Usually the one who always did something daft on a run ashore and "dropped himself in the s**t". I make the distinction as there are plenty of Senior Rates around who are OD's, and having been a Mess President on several occasions can vouch for that personally. People can be an OD for a whole career, or merely be a big OD on isolated occasions. If anyone witnessed me fall over the wall following Ulverston Beer Festival last year, that was a perfectly good example of such !! OD is usually accompanied by the descriptor Big, as in old "Sharky is a big OD"

Yours Aye

JBN
RN