Senior Captain

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Insignia of a modern day Senior Captain
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Insignia of a modern day Senior Captain

Senior Captain is a rare military rank which is used in some countries armed forces as a rank between a regular Captain and a Major. The rank is most often only found only in armies and air forces. A similar position to that of Senior Captain is the rank of Senior Colonel.

Most prominent examples of Senior Captain rank is militaries of North Korea (where the rank is known as Daewi) and also of China (between 1955 and 1965). Claims that this rank was adopted from the Soviet Union's army are unfounded, as Red/Soviet Army never had it since the introduction of the rank system in 1935. It was, though, present in Imperial Russian Army, where it was called "Shtabs-Kapitan" (Staff-Captain), obviously a rank of German origin.

The rank of Senior Captain is rare in Western militaries, but may be found in some cases. Such is the situation in the Bundesmarine of Germany which maintains a Senior Captain (or, more exactly, Senior Lieutenant) rank known as Stabskapitanleutnant. The Belgian Army knows the rank of Captain-Commandant.


In some navies of the world, there is the notion of a "senior captain", see: Commodore. It is interesting to note that when similar rank existed in Imperial Russian Navy it was called not Commodore, but rather Captain-Commander.