HistoryBoy
Midshipman

Hi All,
For those of us who peruse military history, it is a joy to see the rank structure in the British Army, the RM and the RAF. Simple... pure... unadulterated.
But then there's you Navy baggage.
You're a closed shop.
None - shall - pass.
It's very hard to work out who was who and what was what when ranks are given as:
NA1, AEM, AEM(L)1, AEM(M)1, AEM(R1), LCk, POSM, POME, L/Sto Mech, PO Ck, AEM(W)1, Wtr, LSTW, Ck 1, LSA, CPOWEA, LM(E), NA2 and so on.
I have tried very hard to find some sort of acronym list of all the RN trades. Ultimately, I'm trying to turn each of these into a rank within the NATO hierarchy but it's hard for an outsider.
When I say "these", I have 690 different ones - not just the ones I mentioned.
Is there a way to explain how to look them up? I understand that there are different branches in the navy and different rating ranks and that most of these titles are an amalgam of the two. For example - it's taken me weeks but I finally understood that LACPOAEM means:
Local Acting - Chief Petty Officer - Air Engineering Mechanic
I think.
Can anyone give me directions to a great guide to all this? Or at least decypher the ones I've listed and we'll go from there?
Thanks,
Tom
For those of us who peruse military history, it is a joy to see the rank structure in the British Army, the RM and the RAF. Simple... pure... unadulterated.
But then there's you Navy baggage.
You're a closed shop.
None - shall - pass.
It's very hard to work out who was who and what was what when ranks are given as:
NA1, AEM, AEM(L)1, AEM(M)1, AEM(R1), LCk, POSM, POME, L/Sto Mech, PO Ck, AEM(W)1, Wtr, LSTW, Ck 1, LSA, CPOWEA, LM(E), NA2 and so on.
I have tried very hard to find some sort of acronym list of all the RN trades. Ultimately, I'm trying to turn each of these into a rank within the NATO hierarchy but it's hard for an outsider.
When I say "these", I have 690 different ones - not just the ones I mentioned.
Is there a way to explain how to look them up? I understand that there are different branches in the navy and different rating ranks and that most of these titles are an amalgam of the two. For example - it's taken me weeks but I finally understood that LACPOAEM means:
Local Acting - Chief Petty Officer - Air Engineering Mechanic
I think.
Can anyone give me directions to a great guide to all this? Or at least decypher the ones I've listed and we'll go from there?
Thanks,
Tom