1WO means...

[themrwho]

I often see it as 'First Watch Officer' in here, is it not First Warrant Officer?

(src: http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/1WO )

Any online reading sources will be appreciated...

[frau kaleun]

In the lingo of the German Navy, 1WO or IWO is the abbreviation for Erster Wachoffizier, "First Watch Officer," in spoken German colloquially referred to as the "Eins W O" (pronounced Eins Vay Oh).

This would be the second in line of command on a German naval vessel, subordinate only to the kommandant of the ship - a commissioned officer, and roughly equivalent to an "XO" or Executive Officer.

Other designations would be used for a Warrant or Petty Officer in German naval terminology.

Good basic overview here:

http://www.uboat.net/men/crew/

Edit: not to be confused with the designation "Nummer Eins," often used to refer to the ship's Bootsmann, a (relatively high-ranking) non-commissioned officer who had responsibility over the enlisted men in matters of day-to-day operations and discipline.

[HW3]

Here is a link to a chart showing the Kreigsmarine rank and its equivalent rank in the U.S. Navy.

http://www.feldgrau.com/kmsranks.html

You will note there are no Warrant Officers in the U.S. Navy either. The 1WO would usually be a Oberfähnrich zur See or a Leutnant zur See.

[Jimbuna]

First Watch Officer...second in command to the Kaleun

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by HW3

Here is a link to a chart showing the Kreigsmarine rank and its equivalent rank in the U.S. Navy.

http://www.feldgrau.com/kmsranks.html

You will note there are no Warrant Officers in the U.S. Navy either. The 1WO would usually be a Oberfähnrich zur See or a Leutnant zur See.

I'd think those ranks would more likely be seen at the Second Watch Officer position, with an Oberleutnant at 1WO, unless of course the kommandant was still an Oberleutnant. May have been much more common though as the war went on and training time was cut short and the number of available officers overall declined.

[Platapus]

One more reference saying what everyone else already said.

http://www.uboat.net/special/abbrevat.htm

[Tessa]

Here's (yet another) source, though has some discrepencies in some of the ranks. Though probably unknown to most, SH3 completely leaves out the oberfeldwebel rank altogether with the NCO's. It would actually be possible to add all the additionally NCO and officer candidate ranks to the game; the correct ranking would go:

Feldwebel
Stabsfeldwebel
Oberfeldwebel
Stabsoberfeldwebel
Fanrich
Fanrich Zur see
Oberfanrich Zur see
-----------
Leutnant Zur see -> Comssioned Officer

That last three ranks enter a grey area that doesn't really exist anymore. To try and put into perspective of current ranks, a Fanrich would be the rank of a sailor when they go through OCS. When they wear their uniform (easiestly shown on the navy) its a blank black board with just the star, no single gold striple yet which would indicate an Ensign. In wartime sending someone to OCS for several months isn't always necessary when the sailor/soldier already has all the necessary skills (like Audie Murphy, was promoted from Sgt to Lt w/o going to OCS), and the final two being a Junior/Senior Midshipman. Though the game considers Oberfanrich Zur see to be an officer, they're really still a NCO but one thats advanced to officer training/advancement until they're ready to take an official commision.

This page gives some perfect example of (real) insignia used. You can see almost a rank by rank progression (top left to right) of fanrich/Oberfanrich Zur see/ Leutnant Zur see (Bottom row) Oberleutnant/Kaptianleutnant/Korvettenkapitan. I didn't enumerate each one since some are the same rank as the one to the left just with a qualifcation pin stuck on.

[ETR3(SS)]

Originally Posted by HW3

Here is a link to a chart showing the Kreigsmarine rank and its equivalent rank in the U.S. Navy.

http://www.feldgrau.com/kmsranks.html

You will note there are no Warrant Officers in the U.S. Navy either. The 1WO would usually be a Oberfähnrich zur See or a Leutnant zur See.

Just like to point out that those aren't US Navy ranks but more of a translation. They look like British ranks to me.

[HW3]

I'd think those ranks would more likely be seen at the Second Watch Officer position, with an Oberleutnant at 1WO, unless of course the kommandant was still an Oberleutnant. May have been much more common though as the war went on and training time was cut short and the number of available officers overall declined.

I agree frau that it was probably that way at the start of the war but, with Admiral Donitz rapidly building up the u-boat force as fast as he could from the start, I think that changed rather fast. I have noticed that a large number of kaleun listed at uboat.net were only Oberleutnant's when they first took command. I am also fairly sure that there were more than a few new Oberleutnant's as 1WO with a more experienced Oberleutnant as Kommandant. Of course this is just my opinion, and I could be way off base here.

[frau kaleun]

FWIW I doublechecked Mulligan's Neither Sharks Nor Wolves which is the most recent thing I've read that gives a fairly thorough overview of the "typical" crew makeup. He states that the 2WO was usually a Leutnant and adds that

By 1941, U-boat crews often included a midshipman (Fähnrich zur See) or two to understudy the watch officers of the LI... If a senior midshipman (Oberfähnrich), he might supervise the third bridge watch and assume an officer's duties. Regular midshipmen, however, did not enjoy officer status on board, ranking instead as the highest-paid noncommissioned officers (NOCs).

That's pretty much in line with everything else I've come across on the subject, which admittedly is far from an exhaustive study... I still think, though, that having even an Oberfähnrich as a First Watch Officer would be quite a stretch. That would make a mere midshipman the second ranking line officer on board which seems highly unlikely, especially since it's my understanding that someone at that level would not have been through the standard "commander training" courses yet.

Of course I could be way off on all of this, lol.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

Edit: not to be confused with the designation "Nummer Eins," often used to refer to the ship's Bootsmann, a (relatively high-ranking) non-commissioned officer who had responsibility over the enlisted men in matters of day-to-day operations and discipline.

And that can be confusing because in the Royal Navy 'Number One' refers to the First Lieutenant, or First Mate, also the equivalent of the American 'XO'.

In the US Navy some quirk of etymology eliminated the 'Boatswain' (pronounce "Bosun" - the German 'Bootsmann') from the picture altogether. There are 'Boatswain's Mates', but the senior of them is the 'Chief Boatwain's Mate', never a Bosun himself. But what makes it confusing to an American is that the Chief Of the Boat, or COB, is called "Chief", the translation given to the LI in Das Boot. And the 1WO is translated as "Number One" in the movie, whereas in the book that title was appropriately given to the senior enlisted man.

Originally Posted by ETR3(SS)

Just like to point out that those aren't US Navy ranks but more of a translation. They look like British ranks to me.

Yes, those are without question RN ranks, not US. Funny thing is that when I was in (1970) we did have Warrant Officers, since to a Chief Petty Officer the rank of Ensign could hardly be considered a step up.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

But what makes it confusing to an American is that the Chief Of the Boat, or COB, is called "Chief", the translation given to the LI in Das Boot. And the 1WO is translated as "Number One" in the movie, whereas in the book that title was appropriately given to the senior enlisted man.

Which is one reason I think I started trying to figure out what the characters were calling each other in German, rather than relying on dubbing or subtitles. Because I remember the scene where the guy who is clearly the second in command talks to the Bootsmann and addresses him as "Nummer Eins" which I knew in German meant "Number One"... and I thought, well, if he's called "Number One" then this other guy can't be called that as well in general parlance.

That and I couldn't figure out what it was Der Alte kept calling the Chief Engineer ("Ell-ee") and it was repeated often enough that I knew it was some form of standard address and I didn't think it would be his actual name or nickname. And of course the "Herr Kaleun" which I knew couldn't be his name and had to be some reference to his rank but I had to look it up to find out.

Just another thing that makes the movie a continuing source of fascination - so many things are just "there" because that's the way it was and they don't beat you over the head with explaining those little details, you just have to figure it out from the context or look it up if you're that curious... which obviously I am, lol. I guess it might be different for someone intimately familiar with the language since there's no confusion caused by clumsy dubbing or subtitles that are a little too Anglicized.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

And that can be confusing because in the Royal Navy 'Number One' refers to the First Lieutenant, or First Mate, also the equivalent of the American 'XO'.

Well this must be right because that's the way Picard does it.

[Tessa]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

In the US Navy some quirk of etymology eliminated the 'Boatswain' (pronounce "Bosun" - the German 'Bootsmann') from the picture altogether. There are 'Boatswain's Mates', but the senior of them is the 'Chief Boatwain's Mate', never a Bosun himself. But what makes it confusing to an American is that the Chief Of the Boat, or COB, is called "Chief", the translation given to the LI in Das Boot. And the 1WO is translated as "Number One" in the movie, whereas in the book that title was appropriately given to the senior enlisted man.

Something that's been bugging me for a long time since someone made another comment about it, what is the chief's rank in Das Boot? At the beginning of the movie when he's wearing the black coat he's got 2 strikes and an officer hat. From that it looks like he's an Oberleutnant Z.s. He dines with the officers so he's got to be an Oberleutnant or a senior NCO rank (US equivalent like a senior chief petty officer or master chief petty officer) which would be fanrich/oberfanrich Z.s. in German.

They're aren't many shots of him where you can see his shoulder boards, they look like line officer boards with 1 pip, the board is too wide to be a Fanrich Z.s. but he isn't singled out as an officer like the #1 and 2 are but is treated and given the repsect like a good #1 would, or the senior NCO of a high rank.

[Markus Witt]

Which is one reason I think I started trying to figure out what the characters were calling each other in German, rather than relying on dubbing or subtitles. Because I remember the scene where the guy who is clearly the second in command talks to the Bootsmann and addresses him as "Nummer Eins" which I knew in German meant "Number One"... and I thought, well, if he's called "Number One" then this other guy can't be called that as well in general parlance.

Isn't this guy also reffered to as "obersteuermann" in the movie. This confused me as it sounds like the first officer.
During the diner scenes in the movie you see the kaleun, Li, and two watch officers at the dinner table. Seeing that let me conclude that apparently the obersteuermann was on the bridge at that time and was in fact the first officer.
This would make sense as the first officer (chief mate) is on duty during dinner time. At least that's what I'm used too in the merchant fleet (1ON taking the 04-08 and 16-20 watch)

However in the movie in other scenes it becomes apparent that the "obersteuermann" is not an officer but an NCO. But if this is the case, then who is on the bridge during dinner?
You would surely expect an officer in charge of the bridge watch.
I would expect 3 watch officers on a U-boat to cover all the conventional watches, but if the obersteuermann is an NCO, then in Das Boot apparently they only have two. This still confuses me.

Anybody knows how many watch officers U-boats normally had and what watch system they used?