Posted by Paul Flint on March 29, 2001 at 21:21:15 from 195.92.194.18:
In Reply to: Re: Names of ships, ranks of office - a veritable mine of information posted by Prue Eckett on March 29, 2001 at 04:15:14:
Prue – I don’t know where I was ….. but that’s not unusual! As far as I am aware the rank structure was the same in submarines as it was in other branches of the Royal Navy at the start of WWII, and in fact it still is. Whilst submariners are a specialist group, who generally volunteer for submarine service, they all start their naval service in the same way, in surface ships. Most submariners return to “general service” after a serving in submarines, and in the case of Seaman Officers may take command of surface vessels. Whilst the number of specialist branches has increased and the terminology, particularly for rating specialists, has grown complicated, the rank and rates have tended follow the same consistent pattern.
At the start of WWII there were some differences in the rank structure, in that Warrant Officers had a thin gold stripe, and Naval Cadets were still in existence. An officer’s branch was distinguishable by the coloured stripes between the gold bands on the uniform - Executive (seaman) = no colour, Engineer = purple, Medical = scarlet, Dental = orange, Wardmaster = maroon, Accountant = white, Instructor = light blue, Shipwright = light grey, Electrical = dark green, Ordnance = dark blue. Although these colours were abolished in 1955, some of the terminology still lives on as naval slang (eg White Mafia for the Supply Branch, Greenies for electricians).
When it comes to age, it may be surprising to know that even at the moment the average age of a warship’s ship’s company, in the Royal Navy, is typically approximately 20 years, and that includes Senior Ratings and the Commanding Officer, probably in his late 30s or early to mid 40s, depending on size of ship.
In the past in wartime, as John Wilson points out, the age of combatants was lower than in peacetime. Due to casualties, promotion could be rapid, and as the war progressed then it became essential to get people through training and into operational roles as quickly as possible. In peacetime the average age tends to rise. In a future major war this same phenomenon is unlikely to occur as combat is unlikely to last for extended periods – the armed forces would simply run out of sophisticated hardware, ammunition, and trained manpower, etc, at a rate which could not be replaced.
As a very rough guide the ages of officers in the Royal Navy are:
Midshipman 18-20
Sub-lieutenant 20-22
Lieutenant 22-30
Lieutenant Commander 29-40
Commander 35-45
Captain 40+
As the size and shape of the Royal Navy is changing so are the terms of service and promotion system, but the age brackets above are still in the right sort of “ball park”. It is worth noting that even a Lieutenant may command a warship. As such he is the Commanding Officer, and not correctly the” Captain”. When I was in the RN I was reminded on several occasions that “skippers” are in charge of fishing boats and yachts, but not of Her Majesty’s Ships!
Terence McManus has supplied some very useful information on the Merchant Navy and may be able to help out on ages as they apply to this service?
I hope that this helps, although I’m afraid I probably haven’t fully answered your questions.
Splice the Main Brace!
Paul