Leading seaman is a junior non-commissioned rank or rate in

navies A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...

, particularly those of the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with " republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from th ...

. 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 of

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

and some navies use corporal rather than leading seaman. The rank is used in the navies of Australia,

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

(Sailor First Class),

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and e ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Australia

The badge in the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

is 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 of

in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

and the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

. Leading seamen are addressed as "leader", and informally known as "kellicks" (rather than "killick") from the kellick anchor which is the symbol of their rank.

Canada

In the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack subma ...

, sailor first class (previously leading seaman until August 2020) is senior to the rank of sailor second class, and junior to master sailor (which is actually an appointment of sailor first class). Its

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

and

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ar ...

equivalent is

, and it is part of the cadre of junior non-commissioned officers. The slang term for the rank is "killick", as in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

. 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 with sailors second and third class and with their army and air force equivalents: privates,

s, and master 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 term ''seaman'' with the gender-neutral term ''sailor''. Leading seamen are now referred to as "sailor first class" (often abbreviated as "S1"). File:CDN-Navy-LS.svg, Sleeve rank insignia of a sailor first class (leading seaman) of the Royal Canadian Navy

Greece

In the Hellenic Navy, leading seaman () is senior to the rank of seaman () and junior to

chief petty officer A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards. Canada "Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) (''premier maître de deux ...

(). File:GR-Navy-Δίοπος ΕΠΟΠ.svg, Sleeve rank insignia of a leading seaman (''diopos'') of the Hellenic Navy ''(male)'' File:GR-Navy-Δίοπος ΕΠΟΠ-female.svg, Sleeve rank insignia of a leading seaman (''diopos'') of the Hellenic Navy ''(''female'')''

The Soviet Union and Russia

"Leading seaman" (russian: старший матрос, translit=starshy matros; literally "senior seaman") is a naval enlisted rank of the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It include ...

of the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia North Asia or Northern Asia, also referred to as Siberia, is the northern region of Asia, which is defined in geographic ...

. It is senior to the lowest rank of "seaman" (russian: матрос, translit=matros). The rank was introduced to the Soviet Navy in 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 rate of leading seaman, leading hand or leading rating in the

is senior to able seaman and junior to petty officer. It is equivalent to corporal in the other services. The badge is the fouled

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ...

(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 has been updated to single hook in the chest centre. 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 a fouled anchor.

United States

In the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, the position of leading seaman is usually that of the seniormost seaman (E-3) in the division. The rank equivalent of a leading seaman is a petty officer third class (E-4), although the leading seaman only has the authority of a PO3, ''not'' the rank. The leading seaman position is usually used when a PO3 or PO2 is not available.

Venezuela

The rank is used by the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela.

References

{{Reflist Military ranks of the Commonwealth Military ranks of Australia Military ranks of Canada Military ranks of the Royal Navy Marine occupations