Powder monkey
WordNet
noun
(1) Someone who carries explosives (as from the magazine to the guns on board a warship)
WiktionaryText
Noun
- an explosives expert. A person who sets explosives.
- the persons employed to carry gun powder from the ship's magazine to the gun deck during a battle; in the 18th century Royal British and U. S. Navies, this task (also carrying water) during battles became a permanent nickname for the ship's cabin boys and apprentice seamen.