Honor Harrington's Universe

Military Ranks (text version)

I have written a page about military ranks in David Weber's books about Honor Harrington.

[HH1] On Basilisk Station
[HH2] The Honor of the Queen
[HH3] The Short Victorious War
[HH4] Field of Dishonor
[HH5] Flag in Exile
[HH6] Honor Among Enemies
[HH7] In Enemy Hands
[HHA1] More Than Honor (Anthology)
[HH8] Echoes of Honor
[HHA2] Worlds of Honor (Anthology)
[HH9] Ashes of Victory
[HHA3] Changer of Worlds (Anthology)
[HH10] War of Honor
[HHC1] Crown of Slaves (With Eric Flint)
[HHS1] Shadow of Saganami (forthcoming)
[HH11] At All Costs

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Go to my "Homage to Honor Harrington", where you will also find links.
Or see what David Weber himself says about ranks and uniforms in an excerpt from his "Tech Bible".
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RANKS

Royal Manticoran Navy (RMN)
Royal Manticoran Navy (RMN) higher command.
Royal Manticoran Marine Corps
Grayson Navy (GN)
Navy of the Peoples' Republic of Haven (PN)
Navy of the Anderman Empire (IAN)

1. Royal Manticoran Navy (RMN)

Manticore follows the English-American tradition in naming military ranks.

Enlisted:
- 3:rd class
- 2:nd class
- 1:st class
Non Commissioned Officers:
- Petty Officer
  - 3:rd class
  - 2:nd class
  - 1:st class
- Chief Petty Officer
- Senior Chief Petty Officer
- Master Chief Petty Officer
- Senior Master Chief Petty Officer
Commissioned Officers:
- Ensign
- Lieutenant (JG)
- Lieutenant (SG)
- Lieutenant Commander
- Commander
- Captain (JG)
- Captain (SG) (or Captain of the List)
Flag Officers:
- Commodore
- Rear Admiral
- Vice Admiral
- Admiral
- Fleet Admiral

NCO:s are often called "Gunners Mate", "Electronics Mate", "Coxwain", etc instead of PO after their specialities.

The highest ranking NCO aboard a Navy Ship is called Bosun.

There are also "Warrant Officers" which are NCO:s who have been promoted without recieving a commission. Their ranks are the equivalent of Lieutenant (JG) to Commander, but they stand outside the executive line of command. (Ref. "HH9")

(JG) and (SG) stands for Junior Grade and Senior Grade, respectively.

Admirals are "of the Green" or "of the Red", where Green is the senior division.

There is one higher Admiral rank (Admiral of the Fleet), the commander of the Star Kingdom of Manticore's Home Fleet has this rank. (Ref. "HH11")

2. Royal Manticoran Navy (RMN) higher command

The highest ranking officers of the RMN are the seven Space Lords (Ref. "HH8")

First Space Lord:
- Known holders:
  - Adm. Sir James Bowie Webster [HH1-3]
  - Adm. Sir Thomas Caparelli [HH3-9]
  - Adm. Sir Simon Chakrabarti [HH10]
  - Adm. Sir Thomas Caparelli [HH10-11]
- Responsibilities:
Second Space Lord:
- Known holders:
  - Vice Adm. Lady Patricia Givens [HH1?-9]
  - Adm. Francis Jurgensen [HH10]
  - Adm. Lady Patricia Givens [HH10-11]
- Responsibilities:
  - Bureau of Planning
  - Office of Naval Intelligence
Third Space Lord:
- Known holders:
  - Adm. Lord Hamish Alexander [before HH1]
  - (Vice?) Adm. Lady Lucy Danvers [HH1-8]
- Responsibilities:
  - Bureau of Ships
Fourth Space Lord:
- Known holders:
  - Vice Adm. Adcock [?-HH8]
  - Adm. Sonia Hemphill [HH10-11]
- Responsibilities:
  - BuWeaps
Fifth Space Lord:
- Known holders:
  - Adm. Sir Lucien Cortez [HH1-9]
  - Adm. Josette Drakovic [HH10]
  - Adm. Sir Lucien Cortez [HHS1-HH11]
- Responsibilities:
  - Bureau of Personell
6th ? Space Lord:
- Known holder:
  - Vice Adm. Tanith Hill [?-HH8]
- Responsibilities:
  - BuTrain
7th ? Space Lord:
- Known holder:
  - Vice Adm. Mannock [?-HH8]
- Responsibilities:
  - (Surgeon General)

Their civilian master, i.e. the Crown minister responsible for the Navy,

Adm. Sir Edward Janacek [HH1-2]
Lady Francine Maurier, Baroness Morncreek [HH3-9]
Adm. Sir Edward Janacek [HH10]
Adm. Hamish Alexander, Earl White Haven [HH10-11]

is called First Lord of the Admiralty.

3. Royal Manticoran Marine Corps

Manticore follows the English-American tradition in naming military ranks

Privates:
- Recruit
- Private
- Private 1:st class
Non Commissioned Officers:
- Corporal
- Sergeant
- Staff Sergeant
- Master Sergeant
- Sergeant Major
- Battalion Sergeant Major
- Regimental Sergeant Major
Commissioned Officers:
- Second Lieutenant
- Lieutenant
- Captain
- Major
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Colonel
General Officers:
- Brigadier
- Major General
- Lieutenant General
- General

The highest ranking Marine NCO aboard a Navy ship is nicknamed "Gunny".

If the Marines aboard a Navy ship are commanded by a Captain, he will recieve a courtesy promotion to Major, so that there will be no confusion with the captain of the ship. (Ref. "HH1")

General Dame Erica Vonderhoff is Commanding Officer, Fleet Marine Force (Ref. "HH4"), but she presumably does not command the entire Marine Corps, only that portion that is stationed aboard Navy ships.

4. Grayson Navy (GN)

Grayson seems to follow the same English-American tradition as Manticore when it comes to Navy ranks.

Commissioned Officers:
- Ensign
- Lieutenant (JG)
- Lieutenant (SG)
- Lieutenant Commander
- Commander
- Captain (JG)
- Captain (SG) (or Senior Captain)
Flag Officers:
- Commodore
- Rear Admiral
- Vice Admiral
- Admiral
- Fleet Admiral
- High Admiral

The commander of the GN has the rank of High Admiral. (Ref. "HH2-HH9")

5. Navy of the Peoples' Republic of Haven (PN) / Republic of Haven (RHN)

The PRH /RH seems to follow the same English-American tradition as Manticore and Grayson when it comes to Navy ranks. (Ref. "HH1-HH11")

6. Navy of the Anderman Empire (IAN)

The Anderman Empire seems to follow the Continental European tradition when it comes to Commissioned Officer ranks in the Imperial Navy. (Ref. "HH6", "HH10-HH11")
It might look something like this:

Commissioned Officers:
- Ensign (German: Leutnant)
- Lieutenant (German: Leutnant der Sternen)
- Senior Lieutenant (German: Oberleutnant der Sternen)
- Lieutenant Captain (German: Kapitänleutnant)
- Corvette Captain (German: Korvettenkapitän)
- Frigate Captain (German: Fregattenkapitän)
- Star Captain (German: Kapitän der Sternen)
Flag Officers:
- "Commodore" (German: Flottillenadmiral)
- Rear Admiral (German: Konteradmiral)
- Vice Admiral (German: Vizeadmiral)
- Admiral (German: Admiral)
- Fleet Admiral(German: Großadmiral)

This list is inspired by the systems used in several Continental European Navies, especially the German Navy, and from hints in "HH10" and "HH11".

It is not taken from any specific European Navy at any specific time, it is an "average" of several slightly different systems used in different Navies.

Notice the difference between an IAN "Flottillenadmiral" and a RMN or GN "Fleet Admiral".

About the author of this page

Name:	Bo Johansson
Homepage:	http://web.telia.com/~u54504162/index_e.htm

I am more familiar with the Scandinavian tradition for naming military ranks, so I may have misunderstood something when I read the Honor Harrington books.

In the Scandinavian tradition an Army Captain and a Navy Captain have the same level of seniority, there are no Navy "Commanders", and there is a Navy "Fleet Captain" corresponding to an Army Major and a "Commodore Captain" corresponding to a Lieutenant Colonel.

Up to the top of this page.
Go to a graphics-rich version of this page.
Go to my "Homage to Honor Harrington", where you will also find links.
Or see what David Weber himself says about ranks and uniforms in an excerpt from his "Tech Bible".
Back to my Home Page.

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