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. 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.

Commands Ĭaptains 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. 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. 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.

Germany, Netherlands) and ' captain of the first rank' (Russia).Īny 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. France, Argentina, Spain), captain of sea and war (e.g. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain.Įquivalent ranks worldwide include ship-of-the-line captain (e.g.

Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships.

Navy captain o'connell world war 2