SKIMMER

U.S. Naval Term. Any naval crewman of a ship or craft that operates on the surface of the water. In common use in today’s U.S. Navy, this informal term derives from one meaning of the verb skim, meaning “To glide or pass quickly over or along (a surface).” It is one of three terms that very generally classifies a sailor into one of the three levels on which the Navy operates and fights: below the sea (bubbleheads), on the sea (skimmers), and above the sea (airdales). See also in the Pseudodictionary: Bubblehead, Airdale. Example: One submariner speaking to another about a sailor on a surface ship: “Ah, what does he know about submarines. He’s a skimmer.”