''Oberfähnrich zur See'' (OFähnr zS or OFRZS) designates in the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...

of the

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

a military person or member of the armed forces with the last or highest Officer Aspirant (OA – german: Offizieranwärter) rank. According to the salary class it is equivalent to the

Portepeeunteroffizier , also Portepeeunteroffizier(e) (), is the designation for German senior NCO in the armed forces of Germany. The name derives from earlier traditions in which senior enlisted men would carry a sword into battle. The word ''portepee'' derives f ...

ranks

Hauptbootsmann '' Hauptbootsmann '' (HptBtsm or in lists HB) designates in the German Navy of the Bundeswehr a military person or member of the armed forces. It belongs to the particular rank group Senior NCOs with port épée. According to the salary class ...

(Marine) and

Hauptfeldwebel In the German Wehrmacht, Hauptfeldwebel (short: HptFw; address: ''Herr Hauptfeldwebel'') was not a rank but a position title, assignment or appointment, equivalent to the Commonwealth company sergeant major or U.S. company-level first serge ...

of Heer or

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

. It is also grouped as OR-7 in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

, equivalent to First Sergeant, Master Sergeant, or Senior Chief Petty Officer in the US Armed forces, and to Warrant Officer Class 2 in the British Army and Royal Navy. In navy context NCOs of this rank were formally addressed as ''Herr Oberfähnrich zur See'' also informally / short ''Oberfähnrich''. The sequence of ranks (top-down approach) in that particular group is as follows: *OR-9: Oberstabsbootsmann / Oberstabsfeldwebel *OR-8: Stabsbootsmann / Stabsfeldwebel *OR-7: Oberfähnrich zur See and

/ Oberfähnrich and Hauptfeldwebel *OR-6a: Oberbootsmann / Oberfeldwebel *OR-6b: Fähnrich zur See and Bootsmann / Fähnrich and Feldwebel

Particularity

The top-down sequence of German Marine midshipman ranks is as follows: * Oberfähnrich zur See * Fähnrich zur See * Seekadett Already below the lowest officer designated rank "Seekadett" any military person, assigned to an officer career, has to wear additionally to the particular rank the two capital letters “OA”, indicating to the “Officer Aspirant” career. The "nautical star" symbolises the "OA" career. MDHWA 11 Matrose OA Trp Lo.svg, Seaman (rank), Matrose OA (OR-1)
(nautical star, waved performance)

References

{{German military ranks Naval ranks of Germany

Particularity

See also

References