[krenzo]

When I was in the Navy, "shipmate" was a negative term because you only heard it when someone, most likely a khaki (senior enlisted or officer), didn't know your name and wanted to chew you out. "Hey shipmate! Your haircut is unsat!"

[claytongulick]

I can't think of any time, aside from maybe bootcamp, that I was ever called "shipmate" by anyone other than a green khaki, as you say.

[bin_bash]

I imagine it's kind of like when someone called me "kid" in elementary school

[lithos]

Yep shipmate is only used against people too new to know you’re actually insulting them (in boot camp and earlier schools it’s more of a cute jest), and when someone is so fucked up that they’re not worth reading the name on their uniform.