Promotions

frau kaleun · 07-30-10, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twblackeagle

Ahoy fellow kaleun,

And how about your capitan's ranking?
As you proceed with GWX version of SH3 you'll enjoy acknowledgement of your future successes by being assigned higher rankings. For example, our crew just completed mission 19 upon our return to Bergen Norway in a XXI. My rank was changed at that time to: Oberleutant Zur See, which if I'm not mistaken would see me (in theory) in command at uboat flotilla level.

I'm not rock-solid on the signifigance of this rank - so if anyone who may be reading this would like to comment please do!

Good hunting!

OB zs

Officer ranks in the Kriegsmarine (and their rough equivalents) were as follows:

Fähnrich zur See - Midshipman
Oberfähnrich zur See - Sub-Lieutenant
Leutnant zur See - Lieutenant (Junior)
Oberleutnant zur See - Lieutenant (Senior)
Kapitänleutnant - Lieutenant-Commander
Korvettenkapitän - Commander
Fregattenkapitän - Captain (Junior)
Kapitän zur See - Captain
Kommodore - Commodore
Konteradmiral - Rear-Admiral
Vizeadmiral - Vice-Admiral
Admiral - Admiral
Generaladmiral - no equivalent
Grossadmiral - Admiral of the Fleet

From what I've read, Oberleutnant was usually the lowest rank at which an officer had command of a combat u-boat - altho this may have changed as the war went on and the available officers' ranks were being thinned out both by transfer of more experienced men to shore duty as well as heavy combat losses in the ubootwaffe overall.

The most commonly held rank for a commander in actual combat seems to have been Kapitänleutnant; promotion above this rank often resulted in transfer to shore duty, either as a staff officer, flotilla commander, or instructor back at one of the training facilities. Some officers stayed in or returned to command of a frontboot after being promoted past this rank but it seems to have been a relatively rare occurrence.

Altho an Oberleutnant might be assigned to shore duty of some kind, I doubt that he would placed in command of a flotilla at that rank, especially given the fact there would probably be other u-boat commanders in that same flotilla who would have more experience and already outrank him if and when the position needed to be filled.