Ranks of the Turkish Navy
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The ranks of the Turkish Navy are in fact quite similar to those in any other NATO country. Similar insignia is worn. Here is a list of all ranks in the Turkish Navy, ordered from lowest to highest:
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[edit] Officers’ ranks
Asteğmen(Midshipman) : Asteğmen, is a commissioned officer but they can never get promotions. The reason is that the astegmen is a person (always a person with at least a bachelor's degree) carrying out his compulsory military service of one year. Ordinary men serve as privates or corporals, but exceptionally chosen ones serve the navy with this rank. Astegmens are usually people with specialties (for example Engineers, Doctors, Dentists, Ph. D. s of various fields..) Astegmen wears a thin stripe of lace (gold coloured) forming a circle in the middle, so that the circle is on the upper side of the stripe and is tangent to it (quite like the Royal Navy). He wears the same mark on his shoulder boards and sleeves.
Tegmen(Ensign) : Tegmen is the firstly worn rank after graduation from the Naval Academy. Tegmens wear a thick stripe of lace (comparatively double the thickness of that of the astegmen's), forming the same circle, both on their shoulders and sleeves.
Ustegmen (Lieutenant Junior Grade) : Ustegmens wear a thick stripe with a circle and a thin stripe below that. Both on shoulders and sleeves.
Yüzbasi(Lieutenant) : A Yüzbası wears two thick stripes, with the one above bearing the circle.
Binbasi (Lieutenant Commander) : A Binbasi is the first rank of being a upper level officer (üstsubay). Binbasi's wear three thick stripes, with the one above the others bearing the circle. Besides that binbasis wear a lining of leaves on the front board of their hats. The same rule is applied for the next two ranks.
Yarbay(Commander) : A Yarbay wears three thick and one thin stripe. The one above all of the rest is a thick stripe and it bears the circle. The one just below that is thin, and the ones below are thick ones.
Albay(Captain) : Albay is the last rank before admiral. Albays wear four thick stripes.
Note : Commodores in the Turkish navy are not given special ranks or insignia. In the Turkish navy a commmodore would not be a rank but a position (usually group commander). Commodores almost always have the rank of Captain (Albay), but can fly their special pennants and wear special ribbons.
Tugamiral (Rear Admiral/Lower Half) : Tugamiral is the first admiral's rank.in the Turkish Navy. Tugamirals wear a 1,75 inch thick stripe of lace and an ordinary thick stripe (that of the normal officers) above that which bears the circle, on their sleeves. However on their shoulder boards, they wear a gold-colour based board bearing a silver garland, with swords crossed in the middle (General’s mark) and a silver five point star. The garland is on the outer edge of the shoulder while the star is in the middle. All admirals also wear two lines of leaves on their hats.
Tümamiral (Rear Admiral/Upper Half) : Tümamiral is the second admiral’s rank. In Turkey Tümamirals wear the same shoulderboard of Tugamirals’ only this time with two silver stars. On their sleeves they wear a 1,75 inch stripe and two thick stripes.
Koramiral (Vice Admiral) : Koramiral is the third admiral’s rank. There are usually six Koramirals in the whole navy. Koramiral’s wear three silver stars on the usual shoulder board. Additionally on their sleeves, they wear a thick stripe bearing the circle, a thin, another thick stripe and finally the 1,75 stripe of lace. So the ascending order is 1,75 inch, thick, thin, thick with circle.
Oramiral (Admiral) : Oramiral is the fourth and last rank in the Turkish navy. There are two oramirals, and one of them is the Commander of the Naval Forces (Deniz Kuvvetleri Komutani), while the other is Commander of the Turkish Fleet (Donanma Komutani). Oramirals wear shoulder boards with four silver stars. On their sleeves they wear the usual 1,75 inch stripe and three thick stripes, with the topmost bearing the circle.
Genelkurmay Baskani (Chief of General Staff) : The Chief of General Staff, assumes command of the Turkish Armed Forces, and although he is always appointed from the army, he is entitled to wear all uniforms in the Turkish Armed Forces, including the Navy’s. When he wears the Navy’s uniform, he wears the Oramiral’s shoulderboard only with specially embroidered lace as the base, and he wears the oramiral’s sleeve stripes with the 1,75 stripe also being embroidered and decorated with leaves.
Büyük Amiral (Admiral of the Fleet) : This is a wartime-only rank and has never been awarded to any member of the Navy. It’s army equivalent Maresal (Field Marshall), had two bearers in the republic’s history : F.Marshall Fevzi Çakmak and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk himself. A Büyük Amiral would wear a shoulderboard with special gold handwork on red velvet, also decorated with golden leaves and he would also sport the General’s garland on top of that. On his sleeves he would wear the 1,75 stripe and four thick stripes, with the topmost having the circle.
[edit] Rank Pennants and Flags(Ensigns)
Note that pennants are only flown for officers who assume command of an independent unit. So staff officers who work in headquarters do not fly pennants.
Flandra (Masthead Pennant) : The Flandra is flown when the ship’s commanding officer boards the ship. It is quite like a very long red stripe with a crescent moon and star close to the mast.
Group Commander : For group commanders, a red triangular pennant with one bomb (twenty pointed white star) is flown.
Regiment Commanders : For regiment commanders, a square red flag with an anchor in the middle is flown.
Commodores : A swallow-tailed red pennant with two bombs (one on the upper left corner, the other one below that) is flown.
Rear Admirals(LH) : A R.Adm. LH flies a square red flag with a bomb right at the center.
Rear Admirals(UH) : A square red flag with two bombs (aligned parallel to the mast and halfway through the flag) is flown for a R.Adm. UH
Vice Admirals: For Vice Admirals, a red square flag with three bombs (two of them aligned parallel to the mast and are close to it, the other one is on the further side, forming an equilatereal triangle with the others) is flown.
Admirals: For the admiral who assumes command of the Turkish Fleet (Donanma), a red square flag with four bombs is flown.
Commander of the Naval Forces : For the Commander of the Naval Forces, a red square flag with four bombs and an anchor in the middle is flown.
[edit] Rates (Insignia of Category)
There are several major categories in the Navy for different professions. Insignia of category are worn right above the circle in the topmost stripe, both on the sleeve and the shoulder board. It is a small round patch with gold-coloured needlework. Line officers and admirals do not wear these patches. (Admirals with special circumstances (doctors and engineers) may wear them on their sleeves, but not shoulders)
Naval Infantry (Marines) : In the Turkish armed forces, marines are subordinates to the navy and wear the Navy’s uniforms. Their patch consists of an anchor and two rifles crossing it.
Combat Engineer (Civil Engineer) : A combat engineer wears a patch with the portrayal of what seems to be a fortress, beyond the sea.
Supply : Supply officers wear a branch with three gold-colourred leaves.
Hydrography/Oceanography : These officers wear a patch which portrays a lighthouse, with two beams of light heading away from each other.
Medical Corps (Medical Doctors) : Doctors bear the Staff of Asclepius, a staff with a single snake entangled around it.
Pharmacists : Pharmacists wear the image of a cup, with a snake around it and a branch surrounding both.
Dentists : Dentists wear a staff with a branch around it.
Engineers : An engineer wears the image of a protractor and a pair of compasses beneath that.
Legal (Prosecutors/Judges) : Officers of this category wear a patch that includes a book laying open and a pair of scales behind that.
Instructors : Instructors wear a patch with a book laying open with a torch behind.
Band Musician : A band musician wears a patch with a musical harp.
Nurse : Officers from the Nurses’ Corps wear a single golden crescent with the corners pointed upwards.
Intelligence : The Intelligence patch consists of a golden circle with a cross in between; embroidered with arrows at each point the cross cuts the circle. Portrayed as if this Wheel was turning around its own axis.
Staff Officers : Staff officers, are the officers who assume command or important positions in other headquarters, with a specialty in military personnel and supplies management. They wear a single golden five-point star as their patch of category.
[edit] Petty Officers (noncomissioned)
Petty officers (Astsubay) wear patches sewn with gold-coloured thread on their upper arms indicating their rank. Their patches include a crescent and star in the middle and hashmarks at the sides. The number of hashmarks depends on the ranks and varies from 2 to 7. Also very senior petty officers may wear two thin stripes on their sleeves as a mark of exceptional seniority.
The ranks of petty officers are as follows in ascending order.
-Astsubay Cavus (Petty Officer 3rd Class)
-Astsubay Kıdemli Cavus (Petty Officer 2nd Class)
-Ustcavus (Petty Officer 1st Class)
-Kidemli Ustcavus (Chief Petty Officer)
-Bascavus (Senior Chief Petty Officer)
-Kidemli Bascavus (Master Chief Petty Officer)
Petty officers also wear a patch of category above their star in rank patches.
[edit] Contracted Seamen
Contracted Seamen (Uzman Cavus), are people that have been employed on four year contracts because of need. They act as subordinates to all officers and petty officers. They wear a red crescent and star, with red hashmarks at each side indicating seniority. Here are their ranks in ascending order:
-Uzman Onbasi (Contracted Corporal)
-Kademeli Uzman Onbasi (Cont. Corp. 1st Class)
-Uzman Cavus (Contracted Sergeant)
-Kademeli Uzman Cavus (Cont. Serg. 1st Class)
Contracted seamen can also wear insignia of category (also red in color)
[edit] Seamen
Seamen are citizens carrying out the compulsory military service. In Turkey this service is recognized as a mission of citizenship and is carried out with great pride and honor. Their ranks are as follows (ascending order) :
-Er (Private) (wears no rank insignia)
-Onbasi (Corporal) (Wears a single inverted chevron, red in color)
-Cavus (Sergeant) (Wears two inverted chevrons, red in color)
Some seamen with specialties (chaffeurs, cooks etc.) also wear rates.
[edit] Coast Guard
The Turkish Coast Guards, are an independent branch of the Navy, which acts under the command of the Interior Ministry. The Force's highest ranking officer is a R.Adm. UH (Tümamiral). The coast guards wear the same rank and rate insignia as ordinary navy officers only with an orange thin arc-shaped stripe, with the words "Sahil Güvenlik" (Coast Guards) emroidered in black, worn on their upper left arm, close to the shoulder.
Also, special pennants are flown for the senior officers of the Coast Guard. Below, are their designs.
Commander of the Coast Guard : For the Commander of the Coast Guard, a square orange coloured flag with a black stripe connecting the lower mast side and upper right corner of the flag, also bearing two bombs (one on the upper mast side, the other on the opposite corner) is flown.
Coast Guard Commander (Rank of Captain) : For these officers, a swallow tailed pennant with a horizontal black stripe across the flag, dividing it in two, also bearing a bomb on each side of the stripe, is flown.
Coast Guard School Commander : The Coast Guard School Commander has a square orange flag, with a white anchor in the center and a vertical black stripe just near the mast.
Coast Guard Group Commander : The Group Commander has a triangular orange pennant, with a black anchor in the middle.
