Army and Navy Uniforms and Insignia / How to Know Rank, Corps and Service in the Military and Naval Forces of the United States and Foreign Countries

by Dion Williams

The Privates are the enlisted men of the rank and file who form the great body of the fighting force of the Army in all of its arms and branches.

In the Navy the commands usually assigned to the Line officers of the various grades are as follows:

Admiral	Command of a Fleet.
Vice Admiral	Second in command of a Fleet.
Rear Admiral	Command of a Force or a Division.
Captain	Command of a First Class ship.
Commander	Command of a Second Class ship or Second in command of a First Class ship.
Lieutenant Commander	Command of a large Destroyer or a Gunboat, second in command of a Second Class ship, or head of a Department in a First Class ship.
Lieutenant	Command of a small Destroyer or a river Gunboat, second in command of a large Destroyer or a Gunboat, or Division Officer of a First or Second Class ship.
Lieutenant, Junior Grade	Command of a Torpedo Boat or Submarine, or Division Officer of a First or Second Class ship.
Ensign	Command of a small submarine, Division Officer of a First or Second Class ship or Destroyer, or Junior Officer on a Ship.

WARRANT OFFICERS

The duties assigned to the Commissioned Warrant Officers and Warrant Officers aboard ship are as follows:

The Chief Boatswain or Boatswain attached to a ship has general charge of all of the rigging, anchors, chains, hawsers, boat gear and tackles of the ship and is responsible for the condition of such stores.

The Chief Gunner or Gunner attached to a ship is assigned to ordnance duty under the Gunnery Officer and has charge of the ordnance stores and ammunition and the repairs to guns and their gear.

The Gunner assigned to Electrical duty has general charge of the electrical plants and wiring of the ship and the stores pertaining thereto.

The Chief Carpenter or Carpenter attached to a ship has charge of the repairs to the structure of the ship which are made by the ship’s force and the stores for this purpose, including paint.

The Chief Sailmaker or Sailmaker has charge of the sails and awnings and the repairs to them.