Honor Harrington's Universe
Military Ranks (graphics version)
I have written
this 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
- [HHA4] The Service of the Sword (Anthology)
- [HHC1] Crown of Slaves (With Eric Flint)
- [HHS1] Shadow of Saganami
- [HH11] At All Costs
Go to a
text version of this page
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")
The highest ranking officers of the RMN are the seven Space Lords
(Ref. "HH8")
| * Rank * |
* Known holders * |
* Responsibilities * |
First Space Lord:
|
- Adm. Sir James Bowie Webster [HH1-3]
- Adm. Sir Thomas Caparelli [HH3-9]
- Adm. Sir Simon Chakrabarti [HH10]
- Adm. Sir Thomas Caparelli [HH10-11]
|
|
Second Space Lord:
|
- Vice Adm. Lady Patricia Givens [HH1?-9]
- Adm. Francis Jurgensen [HH10]
- Adm. Lady Patricia Givens [HH10-11]
|
- Bureau of Planning
- Office of Naval Intelligence
|
Third Space Lord:
|
- Adm. Lord Hamish Alexander [before HH1]
- (Vice?) Adm. Lady Lucy Danvers [HH1-8]
|
|
Fourth Space Lord:
|
- Vice Adm. Adcock [?-HH8]
- Adm. Sonia Hemphill [HH10-11]
|
|
Fifth Space Lord:
|
- Adm. Sir Lucien Cortez [HH1-9]
- Adm. Josette Drakovic [HH10]
- Adm. Sir Lucien Cortez [HHS1-HH11]
|
|
6th ? Space Lord:
|
- Vice Adm. Tanith Hill [?-HH8]
|
|
7th ? Space Lord:
|
- Vice Adm. Mannock [?-HH8]
|
|
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.
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.
There is mention of a "Commandant of the Corps"
(Ref. "HHA2"), but it is not clear if this equals
"Commanding Officer, Fleet Marine Force", or if it is a higher
rank commanding the entire Marine Corps.
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")
The PRH / RH seems to follow the same English-American tradition as Manticore
and Grayson when it comes to Navy ranks. (Ref. "HH1-HH11")
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:
|
(in English) |
(in German) |
| Commissioned Officers: |
- Ensign |
- Leutnant |
|
- Lieutenant |
- Leutnant der Sternen |
|
- Senior Lieutenant |
- Oberleutnant der Sternen |
|
- Lieutenant Captain |
- Kapitänleutnant |
|
- Corvette Captain |
- Korvettenkapitän |
|
- Frigate Captain |
- Fregattenkapitän |
|
- Star Captain |
- Kapitän der Sternen |
Flag Officers: |
- "Commodore" |
- Flottillenadmiral |
|
- Rear Admiral |
- Konteradmiral |
|
- Vice Admiral |
- Vizeadmiral |
|
- Admiral |
- Admiral |
|
- Fleet Admiral |
- 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
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.
