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The officer corps of the Royal Navy is the cadre of personnel holding a commission from the sovereign appointing them in a position of authority in the Royal Navy.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2020) |
The officer corps of the Royal Navy is the cadre of personnel holding a commission from the sovereign appointing them in a position of authority in the Royal Navy.
There are three main routes of entry to the officer corps; direct entry, professional entry and the upper yardman scheme.
Direct entrants are recruited as civilians and undertake a full course of training to become employable.
Professional entrants are individuals who have qualified professionally in the civilian environment and their employment in the Royal Navy will use these qualifications. These are doctors, dentists, nursing officers and chaplains.
The upper yardman scheme allows for ratings identified as potential officers to be selected for commissioning training and operates in two ways. An upper yardman under 30 years of age will join a direct entry class, undertakes the same training path and is otherwise treated as a direct entrant. Candidates for upper yardman can transfer to any specialisation in the officer corps.
The senior upper yardman scheme allows for very experienced ratings identified as potential specialist officers to be commissioned. Candidates for the senior upper yardman scheme will be over 35 years of age and undertake a short training period at Dartmouth before being employed within the same specialisation as their rating career.
Initial officer training is undertaken at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth and at sea undergoing initial sea training. Junior officers are appointed to seagoing ships for common and specialist fleet time and will then undertake specialist training as appropriate to their branch.
Officers enter the service in one of the available branches; logistics, engineer, warfare, medical, and with each of these are a range of sub-specialisations. Entry into a sub-specialisation may define career direction or may only be for a short period.
There is a general view of a two stage career where one is employed in predominantly operational roles in the early stage of a career, and then predominantly strategic management in the later stage.
Specialist fleet training for junior warfare officers concentrates on shiphandling, seamanship and bridge watchkeeping. The initial warfare officers' (IWO) course is undertaken at the Maritime Warfare School leading to a first complement job in a surface ship. Junior submarine warfare officers undertake training at the Submarine School at HMS Raleigh in Torpoint before being appointed to a complement job in a submarine. The junior warfare officer is responsible for navigation and bridge watchkeeping, where they will ensure the navigational safety of all ship operations on behalf of the captain.
Following the first complement job a junior officer may be further employed in bridge watchkeeping duties in ships or submarines or may sub-specialise. The available sub-specialisations include mine clearance diving, hydrography and meteorology, fighter control, frigate navigation or submarine warfare with some of these earning a notification in the Navy List.
Career development leads to the principal warfare officer, advanced submarine warfare or advance hydrography and meteorology training. The principal warfare officer will fight the ship on behalf of the captain, deciding what targets to engage and in what order; directing the naval ratings in their operation of weapons and sensors. With experience as a principal warfare officer further development increases the individuals specialisation and employability.
Aviators of the warfare branch directly specialise in aviation after commissioning, [1] undertaking a bespoke academics package and working in the Fleet Air Arm either as aircrew or air traffic control officers. There are career opportunities later on for aviators to undertake principal warfare officer training.
The warfare branch also acts as the nominal branch for specialist officers commissioned in the senior upper yardman scheme who are not in the logistics or engineer branches. These senior upper yardman officers need not qualify as watchkeepers however will not be considered for sea command if they have not. This category includes physical trainers, naval police officers and aviation officers.
Engineer officers are responsible for the material condition of the various aspects of maritime platforms: ships, submarines and naval aircraft and as such lead teams of naval ratings to conduct preventive and corrective maintenance. Engineer officers are responsible to the captain for the operational capability of the platform and as such form part of the command team. Engineers are also widely employed in the Defence Equipment and Support engaged in logistic support, procurement or capability development and in the UK Ministry of Defence, supporting the fleet or other elements of the British Armed Forces.
Engineer officers specialise in one of four sub-branches [2] that serve as a career alignment throughout their career; weapon systems, marine systems, aviation engineering and training management.
Logistics officers are responsible for supply, catering, administration, financial, personnel and legal services and officers can undertake deep training in any of these fields.
Commissioned officers hold powers of military command however only those officers of the warfare branch who are appropriately qualified can be appointed to sea command.
Warrant officer (WO) is a rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned officer ranks, the most senior of the non-commissioned officer (NCO) ranks, or in a separate category of their own. Warrant officer ranks are especially prominent in the militaries of Commonwealth nations and the United States.
A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada, Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Kenya.
The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve, created in 1859, and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), created in 1903. The Royal Naval Reserve has seen action in World War I, World War II, the Iraq War, and War in Afghanistan.
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank acquired the name. This rank has generally been replaced in army ranks by second lieutenant. Ensigns were generally the lowest-ranking commissioned officer, except where the rank of subaltern existed. In contrast, the Arab rank of ensign, لواء, liwa', derives from the command of units with an ensign, not the carrier of such a unit's ensign, and is today the equivalent of a major general.
The Royal Naval Reserve are a part of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom.
Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces.
The Royal Navy Police (RNP) is the service police branch of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. Members of the RNP enforce service law and discipline.
An unrestricted line officer is a designator given to a commissioned officer of the line in the United States Navy, who is eligible for command at sea of the navy's warfighting combatant units such as warships, submarines, aviation squadrons and SEAL teams. They are also eligible to command the higher echelons of those units, such as destroyer and submarine squadrons, air wings and air groups, and special warfare groups.
His Majesty's Naval Service is the United Kingdom's naval warfare and maritime service. It consists of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Marines Reserve and Naval Careers Service. The term Naval Service should be distinguished from the "UK Naval Services", which consist of the Naval Service and the Merchant Navy. The Naval Service as a whole falls under the command of the Navy Board, which is headed by the First Sea Lord. This position is currently held by Admiral Sir Ben Key. The Defence Council delegates administration of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence.
An Engineer Officer is one type of officer in the UK Royal Navy. There are also Warfare Officers and Logistics Officers supported by additional branches such as Medical or Dental Officers, or the Chaplaincy Service.
Supply officer was a specialisation in the British Royal Navy which has recently been superseded by the Logistics Officer, recognising the need to align with the nomenclature and function of similar cadres in the British Army and Royal Air Force. Though, initially, employment of Logistics Officers in the Royal Navy remained broadly the same, it has begun to reflect exposure to the 'tri-service' environment, including a significantly greater number of operational logistics posts, as well as the more traditional Cash, Pay and Records, and 'outer-office' or Aide de Camp duties. The Logistics Branch in the Royal Navy is one of the three main branches of the Senior Service, though due to its unique nature has interaction with all branches of the Naval Service, including the Fleet Air Arm and the Royal Marines, as well as the Defence Equipment and Support Organisation, the Ministry of Defence and many other agencies and organisations. In centuries past, the supply officer had been known as the clerk, bursar, purser and, later, the paymaster. Logistics officers are still generally referred to by the historic sobriquet 'pusser', a derivation of 'purser'.
This is a list of Royal Navy ratings rank insignia.
The Selborne-Fisher scheme, or Selborne scheme refers to an effort by John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, Second Sea Lord, approved by William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne, First Lord of the Admiralty, in 1903 to combine the military (executive) and engineering branches of the Royal Navy. The main goal was to return control over the movement of a ship to the military officer.
The logistics specialist (LS) is a US Navy enlisted rating that was created on 1 October, 2009 by the merger of the storekeeper (SK) and postal clerk (PC) ratings. It also included the previous functions of the former aviation storekeeper (AK) rating, which was previously merged into the former storekeeper (SK) rating on 1 January 2003.
A principal warfare officer (PWO), is one of a number of warfare branch specialist officers.
A mate is a deck naval officer aboard a merchant vessel, such as the chief mate, second mate, or third mate. Between 1800 and 1890 "mate" was also the naval rank now known as sub-lieutenant—master.
In the United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (USPHS), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, captain is the senior-most commissioned officer rank below that of flag officer. The equivalent rank is colonel in the United States Army, Air Force, Space Force, and Marine Corps.
The Upper Yardman Scheme had its origin in 1912, when Admiral Prince Louis of Battenberg, the then First Sea Lord, initiated a scheme to allow Royal Navy ratings the chance to gain a commission at a relatively young age and so enable them to compete for promotion to the highest ranks. Until 1931 it was known as the Mate Scheme because successful candidates were promoted to the rank of mate, but that title was very much disliked and from 1932 onwards the scheme became known as the Upper Yardman Scheme, those successful being promoted to the rank of sub-lieutenant.
Vice Admiral Jonathan Dallas Mead, is a senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy. He joined the navy via the Royal Australian Naval College at HMAS Creswell in 1984, and spent his early career with the Clearance Diving Branch before training as a Principal Warfare Officer. He captained HMAS Parramatta on operations in the Persian Gulf from 2006 to 2007 during the Iraq War and commanded Combined Task Force 150, overseeing maritime counter-terrorism operations around the Arabian Peninsula and Horn of Africa, from 2011 to 2012. He served as Head of Navy Capability from 2015 to 2017, Commander Australian Fleet from 2018 to 2020, Chief of Joint Capabilities from 2020 to 2021, and was appointed Chief of the Nuclear-Powered Submarine Task Force in September 2021.