A small wartime crew covered every action-station role

The action-stations display identifies Royal Marines guarding against boarding, engineers, signal personnel, gunners, and the rest of the crew needed to keep M33 fighting. Only five officers served aboard, including the captain and specialists responsible for engineering and gunnery. Below that small command group, many sailors were reservists or wartime recruits rather than long-service regulars. M33 even carried a surgeon, an unusual allocation for a monitor that reflected her importance to the flotilla and the expectation of casualties during close-shore operations.