Question for member's of the Royal Navy or US Navy?

Question

In military fiction they some times show Destroyer's, Frigates or Submarines being commanded by Lieutenant Commander's or Commander's (and even in one book I read a RN Sub was commanded by a Lieutenant, but this was a WW2 novel). My question is this, what is the minimal rank an officer must be in order to be eligible to command his or her own vessel? (I mean actual command, not taking over in an emergency or being in charge of one of the duty shifts). I would love an answer for both the Royal Navy (UK) and the US Navy. Thank you.

Answer 1

In both navies (judging by this story from the BBC), you can take command of a ship as a Lieutenant Commander. You would have command of minesweeper or a Patrol Craft (US Navy only). It should take about 10 years to reach this point.

Answer 2

All that's necessary in the US Navy is that the Officer be an Unrestricted Line Officer. Generally you'll find senior Lt. Commanders in Command of Destroyers or junior Commanders. During WWII Destroyer Escorts (Frigates) were routinely Commanded by Lieutenants.

Answer 3

It depends on the size and role of the ship. For example an Archer-class patrol vessel can be commanded by an acting Sub/Lt, usually a reservist training officer. This would obviously vary greatly for an aircraft carrier, which would require a more senior and experienced officer to command the ship.

Answer 4

In the U.S. Coast Guard a Chief Boatswains Mate can command a cutter, this is the only instance where an enlisted man can normally be a commanding officer in all the U.S. Armed Forces.



In the U.S. Navy, officers of the rank of Lieutenant or junior are assigned as Officer in Charge of the vessel, not as Commanding Officer; The vessel in this case, along with several other similar vessels, would be under the administrative command of a Senior Officer. It would be appropriate to refer to such an Officer in Charge as "Skipper", but not as "Captain".



The U.S. Army has ships which are commanded by Warrant Officers.



To the best of my knowledge neither the U.S. Marine Corps nor the U.S. Air Force has their own ships.