Crossword Knowledge 8 - Panties in the Polish Navy?

Google translate is an incredibly handy tool for translating foreign web pages, but sometimes its limitations can raise a titter in the most childish of people - a section of society that I am unashamedly a member of.
Clue: Słucha komend bosmana - answers to the bosun/boatswain.
Answer: Mat.  A member of the crew whose position I couldn't find a translation or equivalent to, so I had to google it in Polish.
The position of Mat was apparently between the position of cabin boy, majtek, and boson, bosman.  However google translated the page thus:


Regarding majtka, it is likely that the name of the garment comes from the name of the job role.  The cabin boys wore short trousers  and the name of the similar undergarment is believed to have come from the title majtka for cabin boys.  The word majtka itself is thought to possibly come from a mix of matelot (French for sailor), maat or maatje (Dutch for companion).  I guess similar to us calling a certain style of underwear, boxers.
These days, the equivalent role to cabin boy would be the Steward's assistant. Anyway, we have lingered enough in the lingerie department. Off with the panties and back to the word mat. Could it be the same as mate in the navy?  Mates would answer to the bosun and mate looks such a similar word to mat.  How about the other meanings for mate that we have in English.  A friend, copulation, mate in chess? Well, it's a no on the friends front, with or without benefits, but in chess we have it.
Mate in chess is mat in Polish, dać mata being the verb to checkmate
What are other chess words?
Szachy - chess
Szachownicy - chessboard
Bierek - pieces
Pion, piony - pawn, pawns (but also means vertical, plumb line, department or section, vertical duct or riser (and by extension: flats)
Figur, fugury - the higher ranking pieces on the back row (also the jack, queen, king in cards)
Król - king
Hetman - queen
Wieża - rook
Skoczek - knight, pretty sure it literally means a small jump or a hop, also grasshopper and other related hopping insects like cicadas, leafhoppers and spittlebugs.
Goniec - bishop, but note that goniec does not mean bishop in the ecclesiastical sense.  It means a soldier who carries messages, a runner.

My final note on Szachy is that Stanisław Ulam, a Polish mathematician and participant in the Manhattan Project, was involved in the development of one of the first chess-playing programs.

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