It is not equivalent to Lance Corporal which is rated as E4, not E3 like the ranks of Able Seaman and Leading Aircraftsman.
Sailors second class wear a single gold chevron, point down, as an insignia of rank; it is worn on the upper part of both sleeves of the service dress tunic, and on slip-ons on both shoulders on other uniforms.
[2][3][4] In 1653 the Royal Navy introduced a new pay scale as part of reforms following defeat in the Battle of Dungeness the previous year.
In peacetime, with fewer active warships, there was usually a surplus of unemployed able seamen willing to work in the navy.
As late as the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy's practice of stopping American ships to press American sailors into involuntary service was one of the main factors leading to the War of 1812 with the United States.