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Baby Steps

Naval Ranks and Words

a part of “Baby Steps”, a fictional universe by Jacker.

The year is 2053, and mankind, after a number of social and technological breakthroughs, has managed to colonize a portion of the solar system. Yet when a vacant, alien vessel is discovered on the edge of the solar system, steps may soon become leaps...

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This conversation is an Out Of Character (OOC) part of the roleplay, “Baby Steps”.
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Naval Ranks and Words

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby lom.conor on Fri Jul 05, 2013 11:42 pm

So I noticed some people were having some trouble with ranks or nautical protocol. Naval technicalities are similar to army ones, but there are some differences. First, let me list out the ranks for everyone to keep in mind.

General Flag Officers

Grand Admiral/Flag Admiral - Usually a position more than a rank, but in theory could be a rank. The Grand Admiral in Europe was once a prestigious position that in principle had administrative abilities over the Royal Navies, but typically was reduced to a ceremonial title given to nephews with no nautical experience. The United States had ONE "Admiral of the Navy" or in short-form, "Flag Admiral," Admiral George Dewey. His rank is now considered equivalent to a six-star, and historically he outranks any other naval personel in American history. Thus, Grand Admiral in the game's universe is probably a very high-ranking/highest ranking officer in the UNSA. Six-Stars ******

Fleet Admiral - A more well-known position, most notably held by Chester Nimitz in WWII. The rank is typically war-time only, and usually only when a country faces massive amounts of fronts. Fleet Admirals typically make decisions for an entire theatre (see vocab.) Five-Stars *****

Admiral - The highest ranking position a United States naval officer can currently hold. Occasionally called a "Full Admiral." It literally means "Commander of the Seas" in Medieval Arabic. Admirals typically command several fleets, or even divisions of the service called "navies" or "armadas." Four-Stars ****

Vice Admiral - 2nd highest ranking position a naval officer can hold. Vice Admirals are typically administrators or commanders of several fleets, but usually squadrons. Three-Stars ***

Rear Admiral- 3rd highest ranking position. Occasionally called a "Half Admiral." Usually an assistant or auxiliary to another admiral. In squadrons or fleets, the Vice Admiral/Admiral would command from the center or front vessel, and the Rear Admiral would command would hold up the rear. Two-Stars **

Commodore- 4th Highest ranking position. Commodore may refer to two separate but coexisting concepts. 1) A commodore is a high-ranking naval officer equivalent to a brigadier general who is in charge of a fleet. 2) A commodore may be any officer, of any rank, who is acting commanding-officer of more than one ship. Thus, both an Admiral and a Lieutenant may be a commodore, but not necessarily hold the rank of Commodore. One-Star *


Senior Commissioned Officers

Captain - Like the commodore, usually refers to two separate but coexisting concepts. 1) A rank equivalent to a land-based colonel. 2) Any naval officer who is in direct command of ONE ship. In modern navies, the rank of Captain is reserved for commanding officers of the largest ships. The Captain in the Navy is higher ranked than a captain in other branches. His/her insignia is an Eagle.

Commander - A rank just below Captain. Commanders are typically captains of midsize ships, especially frigates, but may also be commodores of small squadrons, and executive officers on larger ships. A commander is equivalent to a Lieutenant Major. His/her insignia is a Silver Leaf.

Lieutenant Commander - A lieutenant commander is typically equivalent to a Major in land forces. A Lt. Commander is usually an executive officer (rarely captain) of small ships, and occasionally department chairs on larger ships. His/her insignia is a Brass Leaf.


Junior Commissioned Officers

Lieutenant - Equivalent to a Captain in land forces. Typically in charge of one or two sublieutenants and several NCOs. Symbol is a vertical double-bar.

Sublieutenant - Typically in charge of one or two NCOs.

Ensign - Usually an officer with very little authority. Still outranks an NCO but not typically given much of a command.

Midshipman - An officer in training, typically still in academies.


Noncommissioned Officers "NCO" - Chief Petty Officers

Flag Chief - Highest ranking "NCO." One and only one in existence at a time. Usually public face of the service, but in some circumstances may the Chief directly under the commanding officer.

Fleet Master Chief - Highest normal ranking NCO. Usually serves directly under an Admiral in a fleet.

Command Master Chief - NCO who directly serves under most commanding officers of a squadron or smaller fleets.

Master Chief - The highest of normal "chiefs." Usually in charge of other chiefs.

Senior Chief - CPOs with slightly higher administrative powers and experience.

Chief Petty Officer - CPOs or Chiefs are usually a separate community than subordinate ranks. All ranks including this one and above usually have their own dining facilities, sleep facilities and their own administrative duties, specifically centered around their departments.

Non-Chief Petty Officers - 1st Class (Highest ranking) to 3rd class. Typically same duties as enlisted men, but with an authority over their junior sailors.


Enlistedmen *note for the roleplay, I have made the following ranks space-appropriate*

Spaceman - Fully trained and capable "sailors" who work in the various departments of the ship, usually "on deck" or in the engine room.

Spaceman Apprentice - "Sailors" who have made it out of boot camp and who work "on deck" or in the engine room, or various other department.

Spaceman Recruit - "Sailors" who have been recently recruited and are undergoing boot camp. *WILL NOT BE PRESENT ON ANY SHIPS*


Vocabulary Reference

Aboard - On or in the ship.

Ahoy - Greeting traditionally used for communication with another ship. Note: Not a greeting for a person.

Aye Aye, Sir (Ma'am/Captain) - Only acceptable response to an officer's command or question.

Belay - Cancel that order.

Bow - Most forward part of a ship.

Brig - Jail cell for any unruly characters.

Captain - In this context, refers to any officer who is command of a ship.

Cabin - Specific cell or suite used by higher ranking or VIP members of the crew, or passengers.

Commodore - In this context, refers to any officer who is command of more than one ship.

Commandant - Highest ranking officer in a department. Note: Not a rank in current usage, but a position.

Commanding Officer - Usually highest ranking officer on a ship or officer in direct commissioned control of a ship.

Corpsman - Pronounced "Core-man," from Hospital Corps. Basically a naval medic.

Court-martial - Military tribunal/trial usually headed by the commanding officer of a ship.

Cracker-jacks - Slang term for naval uniforms.

Executive Officer (XO) - In most ships, refers to the 2nd ranking officer of the ship. In larger ships, may be any number of administrative officers, usually divided by departments or physical divisions of the ship.

Front - The front-lines of an engagement, where the majority of conflict is taking place.

Forecastle - Place in the ship where the majority of the crew sleep. Usually bunked and crowded.

Marine - A trained warrior whose expertise is in land or air battles, but operates within the confines of the navy.

Mess Hall - Cafeteria for enlistedmen, NCOs and most Junior Officers.

Sailor - Any individual with any level of expertise in traversing the seas. Not necessarily a trained "seaman."

Soldier - An individual trained in combat under the auspices of the Army. Note: A marine is NOT a soldier, or vice versa.

Skipper - Informal but warm nickname for a captain.

Stern - The rear most part of the ship.

Theater - A part of the war with its own, separate infrastructure. Typically based on continents. Examples would be the European, African and Pacific theaters in WW2, each with its own set of military heros and list of famous engagements.

*I'll add more if any come to mind*


Organizational References (looser terms)

Armada - Usually poetic term for a fleet containing hundreds of ships.

Fleet - Usually a group of ships numbering over a dozen.

Navy - Either a branch of the military or an unit of several fleets.

Squadron - Usually a group of ships numbering less than a dozen.



Also note the existence of Warrant/Flight officers which have the same paygrade as officers, but typically deal with vehicles.
Last edited by lom.conor on Sat Jul 06, 2013 1:55 pm, edited 2 times in total.
If your heartaches seem to hang around too long
And your blues keep getting bluer with each song
Remember sunshine can be found behind the cloudy skies
So let your hair down and go on and cry

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lom.conor
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Re: Naval Ranks and Words

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Achosi on Sat Jul 06, 2013 5:40 am

Nice post lom, very informative.

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Re: Naval Ranks and Words

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby lom.conor on Thu Jul 11, 2013 8:25 pm

EDIT: Wrong topic posted.

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