''Oberfähnrich zur See'' (OFähnr zS or OFRZS) designates in the
German Navy
The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...
of the
Bundeswehr
The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...
a military person or member of the armed forces with the last or highest
Officer Aspirant
Officer candidate or officer aspirant (OA) is a rank in some militaries of the world that is an appointed position while a person is in training to become an Officer (armed forces), officer. More often than not, an officer candidate was a civilia ...
(OA – ) rank. According to the salary class it is equivalent to the
Portepeeunteroffizier ranks
Hauptbootsmann (Marine) and
Hauptfeldwebel of
Heer or
Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
.
It is also grouped as OR-7 in
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
, equivalent to
First Sergeant
First sergeant is typically a senior non-commissioned officer rank, used in many countries.
Singapore
First sergeant is a Specialist (Singapore), specialist in the Singapore Armed Forces. First sergeants are the most senior of the junior spe ...
,
Master Sergeant
A master sergeant is the military rank for a senior non-commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries.
Israel Defense Forces
The (abbreviated "", master sergeant) is a non-commissioned officer () rank in the Israel Defense Force ...
, or
Senior Chief Petty Officer in the US Armed forces, and to
Warrant Officer Class 2 in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
and
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
.
In navy context NCOs of this rank were formally addressed as ''Herr Oberfähnrich zur See'' also informally / short ''Oberfähnrich''.
The sequence of ranks (top-down approach) in that particular group is as follows:
*OR-9:
Oberstabsbootsmann /
Oberstabsfeldwebel
*OR-8:
Stabsbootsmann
'' Stabsbootsmann '' (StBtsm or SB) is the second highest Non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in the German Navy. It is grouped as OR8 in Ranks and insignia of NATO navies enlisted, NATO, equivalent to First Sergeant, Master Sergeant, or Senior ...
/
Stabsfeldwebel
*OR-7: Oberfähnrich zur See and
Hauptbootsmann /
Oberfähnrich and
Hauptfeldwebel
*OR-6a:
Oberbootsmann /
Oberfeldwebel
*OR-6b:
Fähnrich zur See and
Bootsmann /
Fähnrich and
Feldwebel
Particularity
The top-down sequence of German Marine midshipman ranks is as follows:
[Mallmann Showell, p. 228]
* Oberfähnrich zur See
*
Fähnrich zur See
*
Seekadett
''Seekadett'' (short SKad or SK; ,Langenscheidt´s Encyclopaedic Dictionary of the English and German language: „Der Große Muret-Sander“, Part II German-English, Second Volume L–Z, 8th edition 1999, ; p. 1.381 ) is a military rank of the ...
Already below the lowest officer designated rank "Seekadett" any military person, assigned to an officer career, has to wear additionally to the particular rank the two capital letters “OA”, indicating to the “Officer Aspirant” career. The "nautical star" symbolises the "OA" career.
MDHWA 11 Matrose OA Trp Lo.svg, Matrose OA (OR-1)
(nautical star, waved performance)
See also
*
Ranks of the German Bundeswehr
*
Rank insignia of the German Bundeswehr
The rank insignia of the Federal Defence Forces () indicate rank and branch of service in the German Army (), German Air Force (), or the German Navy ().
They are regulated by the "presidential order on rank designation and military uniform".
Th ...
References
Bibliography
*
{{German military ranks
Naval ranks of Germany