Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships.[1][2][3] The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain.
Equivalent ranks worldwide include ship-of-the-line captain (e.g. France, Argentina, Spain), captain of sea and war (e.g. Brazil, Portugal), captain at sea (e.g. Germany, Netherlands) and "captain of the first rank" (Russia).
Any naval officer who commands a ship is addressed by naval custom as "captain" while aboard in command, regardless of their actual rank, even though technically an officer of below the rank of captain is more correctly titled the commanding officer, or C.O. Officers with the rank of captain travelling aboard a vessel they do not command should be addressed by their rank and name (e.g., "Captain Smith"), but they should not be referred to as "the captain" to avoid confusion with the vessel's captain.[4] The naval rank should not be confused with the army, air force, or marine ranks of captain, which all have the NATO code of OF-2.[Note 1]
Captains with sea commands generally command ships of cruiser size or larger; the more senior the officer, the larger the ship, but ship commanders do not normally hold a higher rank than captain. In the Royal Navy, a captain might command an aircraft carrier, an amphibious assault ship, or the Ice Patrol Ship, while naval aviator and naval flight officer captains in the U.S. Navy command aircraft carriers, large-deck amphibious assault ships, carrier air wings, maritime patrol air wings, and functional and specialized air wings and air groups.
Maritime battle staff commanders of one-star rank (commodoresorrear admirals lower half) will normally embark on large capital ships such as aircraft carriers, which will function as the flagship for their strike group or battle group, but a captain will retain command of the actual ship, and assume the title of "flag captain". Even when a senior officer who is in the ship's captain's chain of command is present, all orders are given through the captain.
In the Belgian Navy the rank of capitaine de vaisseauorkapitein-ter-zee is the third grade of superior officer, equivalent to colonel in the land forces. Its insignia is made up of four bands. He or she commands a capital ship (cruiser, battleship or aircraft carrier) or a shore establishment. Smaller vessels such as destroyers and frigates are commanded by a kapitein-luitenant.
The rank insignia for a captain(N) is four 1⁄2-inch (1.3 cm) stripes, worn on the cuffs of the service dress jacket, and on slip-ons on other uniforms. On the visor of the service cap is one row of gold oak leaves along the edge. Captains(N) wear the officers' pattern branch cap badge.[citation needed]
The "(N)" is a part of the rank descriptor, and is used in official publications and documents to distinguish a captain(N) from a captain in the army or air force. It is also important to distinguish between the rank of captain(N) and the appointment of captain, meaning the commanding officer of a ship, regardless of his or her rank.
Captains(N) are addressed initially as "Captain" followed by their surname (example: "Captain Bloggins"), thereafter by superiors and peers as "Captain" and by subordinates as "Sir" or "Ma'am". The "(N)" is not part of the spoken address.
In the Royal Netherlands Navy, the rank of kapitein-ter-zee is the third grade of superior officer, equivalent to colonel in the land-forces. His insignia is made up of four bands and he commands a capital ship or a shore establishment (until recently, a kapitein-ter-zee commanded the Onderzeedienst and Mijnendienst, the Netherlands Navy's submarine and mine-laying training establishments).
Front page of the Breve Compendio do que pertence à obrigação de hum Capitão de Mar, & Guerra, or "Brief compendium of what pertains to the obligation of a captain of sea and war" (1676)
The term captain of sea and war, like the modern rank of ship-of-the-line captain in the navies of France, Italy, and Spain, has deep historic roots. Although the rank was first formally established in the 17th century, the expression had been sometimes been used in the Portuguese and Spanish (asCapitán de Mar y Guerra) armadas of the 16th century. But generally, in the 16th and early 17th centuries, the captain of a Portuguese man-of-war was simply called a capitão, while the commander of a fleet was termed capitão-mor, literally "captain-major".
Portrait miniature of the Portuguese captain of sea and war André de Sousa Ferreira in 1751.
During the 16th century, the term almirante was used in Portugal to designate the second in command of a fleet. Only during the 18th century would it come to designate the fleet commander - an admiral in the more modern sense. But during the latter half of the 17th century, the term "captain of sea and war" came to designate the commander of a larger man-of-war - the ship of the line that began evolving at that time. When that happened, the Portuguese Navy, as other navies, came to use the term capitão de fragata and capitão-tenente, literally "frigate captain" and "captain-lieutenant", to designate the commanders of smaller warships. When Brazil gained her independence from Portugal in 1822, its navy adopted the Portuguese rank denominations, which both countries still use.
Captain of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd class are ranks used by the Russian Navy and a number of former communist states. Within NATO forces, the ranks are rated as OF-5, 4 and 3, respectively.[43]
Serbian River Flotilla Ship-of-the-line captain (Serbian: капетан бојног брода, romanized: kapetan bojnog broda)
Ship-of-the-line-captain (French: capitaine de vaisseau; German: Linienschiffskapitän (in the Austro-Hungarian navy); Italian: capitano di vascello; Spanish: capitán de navío; Croatian: kapetan bojnog broda) is a rank that appears in several navies. The name of the rank derives from the fact the rank corresponded to command of a warship of the largest class, the ship-of-the-line, as opposed to smaller types (corvettes and frigates). It is normally above the rank of frigate captain. In all the Scandinavian countries, the rank stems from the Middle Low German word for war (orloch),[44] i.e. war[-ship] captain.
Capitaine de vaisseau is a rank in the French Navy, corresponding to that of colonel in the French Army. They usually command the navy's most important ships.
^The Polish Navy is, however, a notable exception with "naval captain" (Polish - kapitan marynarki) in the OF-2 rank of lieutenantorcaptain lieutenant and the OF-5 rank being a "Commodore" (Polish - komandor).
^"The History of Navy Rank: The Officer Corps". United States Navy. 2019-11-01. Archived from the original on 2019-12-15. Retrieved 2019-12-22. When the U.S. Navy's predecessor, the Continental Navy, was established in 1775, the first set of Navy regulations stipulated the commissioned offices of captain and lieutenant. When the United States Navy was created by Congress in 1794, the legislation again provided for the ranks of captain and lieutenant "who shall be appointed and commissioned in like manner as other officers of the United States are." In 1799, master commandant was authorized as a rank between lieutenant and captain. Although master commandant was changed to commander in 1837, this simple rank system survived intact until the Civil War.
^Antigua & Barbuda Defence Force. "Paratus"(PDF). Regional Publications Ltd. pp. 12–13. Archived from the original(PDF) on 7 June 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
^"Badges of rank"(PDF). defence.gov.au. Department of Defence (Australia). Retrieved 31 May 2021.
^"OFFICER RANKS". rbdf.gov.bs. Royal Bahamas Defence Force. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
^Mollo, Andrew (2001). The Armed Forces of World War II: Uniforms, Insignia & Organisation. Leicester: Silverdale books. p. 19. ISBN1-85605-603-1.
^Luft, Kathleen (1988). "National Security". In Burant, Stephen R. (ed.). East Germany: a country study. Area Handbook (3rd ed.). Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. pp. 264–265. LCCN87600490. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
^"Insignias". mide.gob.do (in Spanish). Ministry of Defense (Dominican Republic). Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
^"Officerer". armada.mil.ec (in Spanish). Ecuadorian Navy. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
^"Grados Militares". fuerzaarmada.mil.sv (in Spanish). Ministry of National Defense of El Salvador. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
^Hudson, Rex A.; Meditz, Sandra W., eds. (1992). "Chapter 5. National Security". Uruguay: A Country Study(PDF) (2nd ed.). Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. pp. 222–223. ISBN0-8444-0737-2. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
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![Captain (Liberian National Coast Guard)[15]](https://akarinohon.com/text/taketori.cgi/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Navy_O6_shoulderboard.svg)
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![Kapitan (Slovenian Navy)[20]](https://akarinohon.com/text/taketori.cgi/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Generic-Navy-10.svg)
![Captain (United States Navy)[27]](https://akarinohon.com/text/taketori.cgi/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Navy_O6_insignia.svg)
![Captain (United States Coast Guard)[27]](https://akarinohon.com/text/taketori.cgi/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USCG_O-6_insignia.svg)
Imperial German Navy[29]
Reichsmarine[30]
Kriegsmarine[31]
Volksmarine[32]
German Navy[33]
![Capitão de mar e guerra (Angolan Navy)[40]](https://akarinohon.com/text/taketori.cgi/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Angola-Navy-OF-5.svg)
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![Capitaine de vaisseau (Congolese Navy)[49]](https://akarinohon.com/text/taketori.cgi/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:13-ROCongo_Navy-CAPT.svg)
![Kapetan bojnog broda (Croatian Navy)[50]](https://akarinohon.com/text/taketori.cgi/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Croatia-Navy-OF-5.svg)
![Capitán de navío (Cuban Revolutionary Navy)[51]](https://akarinohon.com/text/taketori.cgi/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cuba-Navy-OF-5.svg)
![Capitán de navío (Ecuadorian Navy)[54]](https://akarinohon.com/text/taketori.cgi/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ecuador-Navy-OF-5.svg)
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![Capitaine de vaisseau (French Navy)[56]](https://akarinohon.com/text/taketori.cgi/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:France-Navy-OF-5_Sleeve.svg)
![Capitano di vascello (Italian Navy)[58]](https://akarinohon.com/text/taketori.cgi/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rank_insignia_of_capitano_di_vascello_of_the_Italian_Navy.svg)
![Capitaine de vaisseau major (Navy of Ivory Coast)[59]](https://akarinohon.com/text/taketori.cgi/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ivory_Coast-Navy-OF-5b.svg){kind=small}
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![Capitaine de vaisseau (Madagascar Navy)[60]](https://akarinohon.com/text/taketori.cgi/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:15._Madagascar_Navy_-_CPT.svg)
![Kapetan bojnog broda (Montenegrin Navy)[62]](https://akarinohon.com/text/taketori.cgi/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Montenegro-Navy-OF-5.svg)
![Capitán de navío (Peruvian Navy)[65]](https://akarinohon.com/text/taketori.cgi/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Peru-Navy-OF-5.svg)
![Örlogskapten (Swedish Navy)[23]](https://akarinohon.com/text/taketori.cgi/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Generic-Navy-5.svg)
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