Captain 1st rank () is a rank used by the
Russian Navy
The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...
and a number of
former communist states. The rank is the most senior rank in the staff officers' career group. The rank is equivalent to
colonel
Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
in armies and air forces. Within NATO forces, the rank is rated as OF-5 and is equivalent to
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
in English-speaking navies.
Russia
The rank was introduced in Russia by
Peter the Great
Peter I (, ;
– ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...
in 1713. By decision of the so-called ''Military Navy Commission'' (ru: ''Воинская морскaя комиссия'') in 1732 the sequence of Kapitan ranks was abolished. However, until 1752 the grade rank ''Kapitan 1st rank'' was corresponding to ''Fleet kapitan'' (ru: флота капитан). Finally, the ''Kapitan ranks'' were reintroduced September 5 (16), 1751. The
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
introduced the ''Kapitan 1st rank'' rank in 1935, together with a number of other former Russian ranks, and it continues to be used in many ex-
USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
countries, including Russia.
The first OF-5 equivalent rank in the Soviet Navy (from 1918 to 1935) was ''Ship komandir 1st rank'', also ''Ship commander 1st rank'', (ru: командир корабля 1-ого ранга; literal: commander of the ship 1st rank).
This particular rank was introduced by disposal of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union and the Council of People's Commissars, from September 22, 1935.
[Decree of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union and the Council of People's Commissars, from September 22, 1935, on introduction of individual military rank designation to commanding personnel of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.]
The equivalent rank designation in the
Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...
for warship engineers was '' Kapitan 1st rank-engineer''. Other non-seagoing naval personnel of OF-5 rank, such as in medical service, chemical defence, marines, and naval aviation, have the rank of
Polkovnik.
In the navy of the Russian Federation there are three ranks in the ''staff officer'' (until 1917:
stab-ofizer, derived from German ''Stabsoffizier'') career group:
* Captain 1st rank
*
Captain 2nd rank
*
Captain 3rd rank
Types of rank insignia ''Kapitan 1st rank'' and naval equivalents
Captain 1st rank insignia
File:Generic-Navy-8.svg,
( Albanian Naval Force)
( Azerbaijani Navy)
(Bulgarian Navy
The Bulgarian Navy () is the navy
A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; name ...
)
( Kazakh Naval Forces)
(Russian Navy
The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...
)
( Turkmen Naval Forces)
(Ukrainian Navy
The Ukrainian Navy (), is the Navy, maritime force of Ukraine and one of the eight Military branch, service branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The naval forces consist of five components: surface forces, submarine forces, Ukrainian Naval ...
)
( Uzbek River Force)
See also
*
Ranks and rank insignia of the Russian armed forces until 1917
*
Ranks and rank insignia of the Red Army 1918–1935,
... 1935–1940 and
... 1940–1943
*
Ranks and rank insignia of the Soviet Army 1943–1955 and
Ranks and rank insignia of the Soviet Army 1955–1991,
*
Ranks and rank insignia of the Russian Federation´s armed forces 1994–2010
*
Naval ranks and insignia of the Russian Federation
References
{{Military ranks by country
Military ranks of Russia
Military ranks of the Soviet Union
Military ranks of Ukraine