Leading seaman

Leading seamanis a juniornon-commissionedrank or rate innavies,particularly those of theCommonwealth.When it is used by NATO nations, leading seaman has the rank code of OR-4. It is often equivalent to the army and air force rank ofcorporaland some navies use corporal rather than leading seaman.

The rank is used in the navies ofAustralia,Bangladesh,Canada(Sailor First Class),Finland,Ghana,Greece,India,Ireland,Namibia,New Zealand,Norway,Pakistan,South Africa,Sri Lankaand theUnited Kingdom.

Australia

The badge in theRoyal Australian Navyis the fouled anchor over the word "Australia", worn on the shoulders, or the fouled anchor worn on the left sleeve, depending on what uniform is worn at the time. It is senior to able seaman but junior to petty officer. Leading seaman or leading hand, which it is also known as, is the equivalent ofcorporalin theRoyal Australian Air Forceand theAustralian Army.Leading seamen are addressed as "leader", and informally known as "kellicks" (rather than "killick" ) from thekellick anchorwhich is the symbol of their rank.

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Canada

In theRoyal Canadian Navy,sailor first class (previously leading seaman until August 2020) is senior to the rank ofsailor second class,and junior tomaster sailor(which is actually an appointment of sailor first class). ItsArmyandAir Forceequivalent iscorporal,and it is part of the cadre ofjunior non-commissioned officers.

The slang term for the rank is "killick", as in theRoyal Navy.The term is still used even though the old-style insignia of a fouled anchor is no longer used for this rank in the RCN.

Sailors first class generally mess and billet withsailors second and third classand with their army and air force equivalents:privates,corporals,andmaster corporals.Their mess on naval bases or installations is generally named the "junior ranks mess".

As of August 2020, the Royal Canadian Navy replaced the termseamanwith the gender-neutral termsailor.Leading seamen are now referred to as "sailor first class" (often abbreviated as "S1" ).

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  Sleeve rank insignia of a sailor first class (leading seaman) of the Royal Canadian Navy

Greece

In theHellenic Navy,leading seaman (Greek:Δίοπος,romanized:Diopos) is senior to the rank ofseaman(Greek:Ναύτης,romanized:Naftis) and junior tochief petty officer(Greek:Κελευστής,romanized:Kelefstis).

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  Sleeve rank insignia of a leading seaman (diopos) of the Hellenic Navy(male)
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  Sleeve rank insignia of a leading seaman (diopos) of the Hellenic Navy(female)

The Soviet Union and Russia

The shoulder board of a Russian leading seaman

"Leading seaman" (Russian:старший матрос,romanized:starshy matros;literally "senior seaman" ) is a naval enlisted rank of theNavyof theRussian Federation.It is senior to the lowest rank of "seaman" (Russian:матрос,romanized:matros). The rank was introduced to theSoviet Navyin 1946 and inherited by the Russian state in 1991.

The former Soviet republics of Belarus and Ukraine maintain similar ranks with the same pronunciation but slightly different orthography - старшы матрос (Belarus) and старший матрос (Ukraine).

United Kingdom

The badge of a Royal Navy leading seaman

The rate of leading seaman, leading hand orleading ratingin theRoyal Navyis senior to able seaman and junior to petty officer. It is equivalent to corporal in the other services. The badge is the fouledanchor(an anchor with a length of rope twisted around it), worn on the upper left arm in formal uniform, white front (only when in formal uniform) or overalls and on the shoulder slides in working dress, although this was previously updated to a single hook in the chest centre on the Personal Clothing System (PCS) before reverting back to previous iterations.

Specialists use the word "leading" before their speciality (for example, leading writer, leading cook, leading regulator).

A leading rating is often called a "killick", referring to the rank insignia of afouled anchor.

United States

In theUnited States Navy,the position of leading seaman is usually that of the seniormostseaman(E-3) in the division. The rank equivalent of a leading seaman is apetty officer third class(E-4), although the leading seaman only has the authority of a PO3,notthe rank. The leading seaman position is usually used when a PO3 or PO2 is not available.

Venezuela

Venezuelan insignia

See also:Venezuelan military ranks

The rank is used by theNational Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela.

See also

• Non-commissioned member
• Seaman
• Non-commissioned officer