Rank for the CO and XO by Ship Type?

[Vladika]

Curious: what was Hornblower's rank the first time he commanded a crew and a little independent command?

Midshipman in command of a prize crew, I believe bringing grain and supplies out of a leprosy ridden port. He was in command during the quarantine period (Right/Wrong place, Right/Wrong time.)

 

[infojunky]

Ok going by my brief experience with the Regular Fleet 20+ some odd years ago, the officer in charge was generally figured out by how many enlisted they lead. Those numbers where pretty variable as well considering how complex said task of leadership was going to be. Ensigns tend to either end up as specialists or divisional officers, if they end up in a "Command" position generally they are either under the close supervision of both their immediate commander (Usually a LTjg or a LT) and Senior Petty Officers under them. Which means to say generally an officers first command will come when he is either a LTjg or LT. So in traveller terms most of your really small combatants like Close Escorts, Patrol Cruisers et~al will be commanded by either flavor lieutenants individually while a squadron/task force/group what have you will be commanded by either a Lt. Commander or Commander. Traveller Destroyers and the like by Commanders, anything larger gets a captain....

With a quick flip through a couple of iterations of Traveller Character Generation rules figure Rank 2 is the lowest independant command....

 

[JimMarn]

I just remembered that all officers, including warrant officers, aboard the ship I was stationed on was required to be OOD, officer of the deck, and conn the ship during a four hour watch, and stand quarter deck watch duty when we were in port.

I enountered only 5 Ensigns when I was in. Their senior cruise was on our ship. Four of them seemed competent, one was evidently someone who had no clue about anything. The idiot got assigned to my ship... at least he wasn't in my department.

 

[Vladika]

First US Ships sent overseas WW1 (converted yachts at this time were in many cases larger than contemporary destroyers).

The operations on the coast of France comprised one of the most important activities of the United States Navy. The first of the "U. S. Patrol Squadrons Operating in European Waters," under command of Rear Admiral W. B. Fletcher, sailed from the Navy Yard, New York, for France on June 4, 1917; its mission being defined as "to operate against submarines and to protect shipping adjacent to the coast of France." This squadron consisted of the following converted yachts:

Corsair Lieutenant Commander T. A. Kittinger
Aphrodite Lieutenant Commander R. P. Craft
Noma Lieutenant Commander L. R. Leahy
Kanawha Lieutenant Commander H. D. Cooke
Vedette .Lieutenant Commander C. L. Hand
Christabel Lieutenant H. R. Riebe
Harvard Lieutenant A. G. Stirling
Sultana Lieutenant E.G. Allen


More than 400 of these 110-foot submarine chasers were built, and they proved their worth in foreign as well as home waters. Young reservists, with Lieutenant (junior grade) Roscoe Howard, U. S. N. R. F., in command, brought a group of them from Puget Sound through the Panama Canal to New London, Conn., 7,000 miles.

Read more: Our Navy in the Great War http://www.gjenvick.com/Military/WorldWarOne/Brochures/1919-OurNavyInTheGreatWar.html#ixzz34W2P9rlZ
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Read more: Our Navy in the Great War http://www.gjenvick.com/Military/WorldWarOne/Brochures/1919-OurNavyInTheGreatWar.html#ixzz34VqzlG25
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[Vladika]

Sub chasers, 84, 85, 86 commanded by Ensigns E.F. Williams, A.B. Baker & G.H. Lane - Our Navy at War p 168, By Josephus Daniels

In this case the three craft damaged, then latter sank, a U-Boat. Typically they operated in battle formations of 3 Sub Chasers. Which Ensign was senior is not known

 

[rancke]

First US Ships sent overseas WW1 (converted yachts at this time were in many cases larger than contemporary destroyers).

The ones with lt. cmdrs for captains had complements of between 61 and 68. Christabel had a complement of 55 and Sultana of 62. I'd say my rules of thumb are pretty much inside the ballpark there.

It would be interesting to know why Vedette had a lt. cmdr and Sultana didn't.


Hans

 

[Poppyseed45]

Interesting stuff everyone, and lots of food for thought on rank and command, thank you!