BJM was first written in 1902 by Lieutenant(later Rear Admiral) Ridley McLean,
The manual serves two types of sailors and they are/were 1). the recruit and 2) the long serving sailor who is advancinghis career where he must use his vast military knowledge
My copy is the 16th edition Frog
While in Argentia in the 66-68 time frame, I had my dad's dress blues "re-piped" and the gunner's mate crow replaced with a sonarman's crow. Dad served in the Pacific during WWII. I proudly wore those dress blues until my CPO initiation.
I still have my flathat. Cindy (daughter) has my BJM. I do have a 1946 edition of the BJM that I picked up in a garage sale somewhere.
Unfortunately, I am one of those individuals that never tosses very much away.