Seaman - wikipedia Seaman This article is about the military rank. For civil and generic usage, see Sailor. For other uses, see Seaman ( disambiguation ). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( November 2007 ) Seaman ( matelot ) of the French frigate Jean Bart Common military ranks in English Navies Armies Air forces Commissioned and Non-commissioned officers Admiral of the fleet General of the Army or Field marshal Marshal of the air force Admiral General Air chief marshal Vice admiral Lieutenant general Air marshal Rear admiral Major general Air vice-marshal Commodore Brigadier or Brigadier general Air commodore Captain Colonel Group captain Commander Lieutenant colonel Wing commander Lieutenant commander Major or Commandant Squadron leader Lieutenant Captain Flight lieutenant Sub-lieutenant Lieutenant or First lieutenant Flying officer Ensign Second lieutenant Pilot officer Midshipman Officer cadet Flight cadet Enlisted grades Warrant officer or Chief petty officer Warrant officer or Sergeant major Warrant officer Petty officer Sergeant Sergeant Leading seaman Corporal Corporal Seaman Private or Trooper Aircraftman Talk View Seaman is a naval rank and is either the lowest or one of the lowest ranks in most navies around the world. In the Commonwealth it is the lowest rank in the navy. The next rank up is able seaman, followed by leading seaman, which is followed by the petty officer ranks. In the United States, it means the lowest three enlisted rates of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, followed by the higher petty officer ranks. The equivalent of the seaman is the matelot in French - speaking countries, and Matrose in German - speaking countries. The term `` seaman '' is also a general - purpose for a man or a woman who works anywhere on board a modern ship, including in the engine spaces, which is the very opposite of sailing. This is untrue in the US Navy where a sailor might be a seaman but not all US Navy sailors are a ' Seaman ' as they might be an Airman, Fireman, Constructionman, or Hospital Corpsman. Furthermore, `` seaman '' is a short form for the status of an `` able - bodied seaman, '' either in the navies or in the merchant marines. An able - bodied seaman is one who is fully trained and qualified to work on the decks and superstructure of modern ships, even during foul weather, whereas less - qualified sailors are restricted to remaining within the ship during times of foul weather -- lest they be swept overboard by the stormy seas or by the high winds. Contents 1 Australia 2 Canada 3 France 4 Estonia 5 Germany 6 Greece 7 Indonesia 8 Italy 9 The Soviet Union and Russia 10 United Kingdom 11 United States 12 See also 13 References 14 External links Australia The Royal Australian Navy features one Seaman rank, which is split into two distinct classes. Seaman and Seaman * ( pronounced Seaman Star ), to differentiate between those who have completed their employment training and those who are in training. There is no insignia on a Seaman rank slide. Canada There are 4 grades of seaman / matelot in the Royal Canadian Navy : Ordinary seaman or matelot de troisième classe Able seaman or matelot de deuxième classe Leading seaman or matelot de première classe Master seaman or matelot - chef The rank of master seaman is unique because it was created only for the Canadian Navy. It does not follow the British tradition of other Canadian ranks. It corresponds to the rank of master corporal / caporal - chef. France Matelot 2e classe ( seaman 2nd class ), or apprentice seaman, and matelot breveté ( able seaman ) are designations of the French Navy. Matelots are colloquially known as `` mousses ''. Matelot Matelot breveté ( able seaman ) Estonia Madrus Madrus is the lowest rank in the Estonian Navy. It is equivalent to OR - 1 in NATO Germany Shoulder board of a German seaman ( matrose ) The German rank of `` seaman '' ( German : Matrose ) is the lowest enlisted rank of the German Navy. It is equivalent to OR1 in NATO and is a grade A3 in the pay rules of the Federal Ministry of Defence. Greece Badge of a Greek ordinary seaman ( ηαύτης ) There is one grade of seaman in the Hellenic Navy. Indonesia Seaman rank of the Indonesian Navy In the Indonesian Navy this rank is referred to as `` Kelasi '' ( read : Kelasee ). There are three levels of this rank in the Indonesian Navy which are : `` Seaman Recruit '' ( Kelasi Dua ), `` Seaman Apprentice '' ( Kelasi Satu ), and `` Seaman '' ( Kelasi Kepala ), the rating system thus mirrors the one used in the US Navy. Italy The Italian rank of `` seaman '' ( Italian : comune di seconda classe ) is the lowest enlisted rank of the Italian Navy equivalent in NATO to OR1. Badge of technics and mechanics Badge of coxswains Badge of tracking radar operators Badge of electro - mechanics The Soviet union and Russia Shoulder board of a Russian seaman ( matros ) Much Russian military vocabulary was imported, along with military advisers, from Germany in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Russian word for `` seaman '' or `` sailor '' ( Russian : матрос ; matros ) was borrowed from the German `` matrose ''. In Imperial Russia the most junior naval rank was `` seaman 2nd class '' ( матрос 2 - й статьи ; matros vtoroi stati ). The 1917 Revolution led to the term `` Red Fleet man '' ( краснофлотец ; krasnoflotets ) until 1943, when the Soviet Navy reintroduced the term `` seaman '' ( матрос ; matros ), along with badges of rank. The Russian federation inherited the term in 1991, as did several other former Soviet republics, including Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Belarus, with Bulgaria using the same word and the same Cyrillic orthography. Estonia ( Estonian : mаtrus ) and Latvia ( Latvian : mаtrozis ) use closely related loanwords. United kingdom In the Royal Navy the rate is split into two divisions : AB1 and AB2. The AB2 rating is used for those who have not yet completed their professional taskbooks. The rate of ordinary seaman has been discontinued. United States Constructionman variation Fireman variation Airman variation Seaman insignia A US Navy seaman at work aboard USS Nimitz Seaman is the third enlisted rank from the bottom in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, ranking above seaman apprentice and below petty officer third class. This naval rank was formerly called `` seaman first class ''. The rank is also used in United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps, a naval - themed uniformed youth program under the sponsorship of the Navy League of the United States. The actual title for an E-3 in the U.S. Navy varies based on the subset of the Navy or Coast Guard, also known as a group rate, to which the member will ultimately be assigned. Likewise, the color of their group rate mark also depends on that subset of the Navy or Coast Guard in which they are serving and which technical rating they will eventually pursue. Those in the general deck, technical, weapons and administrative groups ( with the exception of the aviation administration men ) are called `` seamen '' and they represent the largest group of Navy and Coast Guard personnel in pay grades E-3 and below. They wear white stripes on their blue uniforms ( USN and USCG ), and navy blue ( black ) stripes on their white uniforms ( USN only ). Those in the medical group are now called `` hospitalmen. '' In October 2005, the USN dental technician ( DT ) rating was merged into the hospital corpsman ( HM ) rating, eliminating the `` dentalman '' title for E-3 and below. Those who once held the rank of `` dentalman '' have become `` hospitalmen ''. They wear white stripes on their blue uniforms, and navy blue stripes on their white uniforms. After the completion of their `` A '' school, they wear a caduceus of the same color as the stripes on their uniforms. On their combat uniforms, a hospitalman wears their caduceus on the tab of their left collar tab. This rating was previously called pharmacist 's mate ( PHM ) and HMs are colloquially referred to as `` corpsman '' in the naval service. Hospitalmen exist only in the U.S. Navy ; their equivalent in the U.S. Coast Guard is the health services technician ( HS ), which is sourced from seamen in that service 's administrative and scientific group. Those in the shipboard engineering and hull group, comprising conventional ( USN + USCG ) and nuclear ( USN only ) powerplants and propulsion, as well as the hull maintenance area, are called `` firemen. '' They wear red stripes on both their USN and USCG blue uniforms and, in the case of the Navy, white uniforms. Those in the aviation group of the Navy and Coast Guard are called `` airmen '', and they wear green stripes on blue uniforms ( USN + USCG ) and white uniforms ( USN only ). Enlisted personnel in the construction group, which primarily populates the U.S. Navy 's civil engineering construction battalions ( i.e., Seabees ), are called `` constructionmen '' and they wear light blue stripes on both their blue and white uniforms. Constructionmen are unique to the U.S. Navy ; there is no U.S. Coast Guard equivalent. No such stripes for E-1, E-2 or E-3 are authorized to be worn on working uniforms, e.g., navy work uniform, USCG operational dress uniform, coveralls, utility wear, flight suits, hospital and clinic garb, diving suits, etc. However, sailors with the pay grade of E-2 or E-3 are permitted to wear silver - anodized collar devices on their service uniforms. Some sailors and Coast Guardsmen receive a rating following completion of a military technical training course for that particular rating known as an `` A '' school. Other sailors and Coast Guardsmen who have completed the requirements to be assigned a rating and have been accepted by the Navy Personnel Command / Bureau of Naval Personnel ( USN ) or the Coast Guard Personnel Service Center Command ( USCG ) as holding that rating ( a process called `` striking '' ) are called `` designated strikers '', and are referred to by their full rate and rating in formal communications ( i.e., machinist 's mate fireman ( MMFN ), as opposed to simply fireman ( FN ) ), though the rating is often left off in informal communications. Those who have not officially been assigned to a rating are officially referred to as `` undesignated '' or `` non-rates. '' Once selected for a particular rating of their choice they become eligible for advancement in that community. See also United States Navy enlisted rates Comparative military ranks United States Coast Guard officer rank insignia United States Coast Guard enlisted rate insignia List of United States Coast Guard ratings Seaman ( Admiralty Law ) References Jump up ^ `` U.S. Navy Enlisted Military Ranks USN ''. Usamilitarybenefits.com. Retrieved 2013 - 10 - 02. Jump up ^ ( 1 ) Archived January 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Brockhaus, The Encyclopaedia in 24 volumes ( 1796 -- 2001 ), Volume 14 : 3 - 7653 - 3674 - 2, page 337 ; definition of `` Matrose ''. External links Media related to Seaman at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Seaman&oldid=804741241 '' Categories : Military ranks of Canada Military ranks of the United States Navy Military ranks of the United States Coast Guard United States military enlisted ranks Military specialisms Combat occupations Water transport Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Articles needing additional references from November 2007 All articles needing additional references Articles containing German - language text Articles containing Italian - language text Articles containing Russian - language text Articles containing Estonian - language text Articles containing Latvian - language text Commons category without a link on Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Azərbaycanca Башҡортса Беларуская Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Эрзянь Esperanto فارسی Français Italiano Қазақша Latviešu Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча Русский Suomi Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 10 October 2017, at 21 : 17. 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Question: what is the work of seaman in navy
Answer: fully trained and qualified to work on the decks and superstructure of modern ships, even during foul weather