Landman (rank)

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For other uses, see Landmann.

Landman (or, in the United States Navy, Landsman) was a military rank given to naval recruits.

In the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom in the middle of the 18th century, the term Landman referred to a seaman with less than a year's experience at sea. After a year, the landman was generally considered an Ordinary Seaman. Later, the term evolved into a more formal rating for a seaman.

Landsman was the lowest rank of the United States Navy in the 19th and early 20th centuries; it was given to new recruits with little or no experience at sea. Landsmen performed menial, unskilled work aboard ship. A Landsman who gained three years of experience or re-enlisted could be promoted to Ordinary Seaman.[1] The rank existed from 1838 to 1921.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Williams, Glenn F. (April 2002). "Uncle Sam's Webfeet: The Union Navy in the Civil War". International Journal of Naval History 1 (1). 
  2. ^ Malin, Charles A. (19 May 1999). Compilation of Enlisted Ratings and Apprenticeships, U.S. Navy, 1775 to 1969. Naval Historical Center. Retrieved on 2008-01-01.
  • N.A.M. Roger. The Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy. W.W. Norton and Company, 1986.
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