Ordinary Seaman (rank)
Encyclopedia
In the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 in the middle of the 18th century, the term ordinary seaman was used to refer to a seaman
Seaman
Seaman is one of the lowest ranks in a Navy. In the Commonwealth it is the lowest rank in the Navy, followed by Able Seaman and Leading Seaman, and followed by the Petty Officer ranks....

 with between one and two years' experience at sea, who showed enough seamanship
Seamanship
Seamanship is the art of operating a ship or boat.It involves a knowledge of a variety of topics and development of specialised skills including: navigation and international maritime law; weather, meteorology and forecasting; watchstanding; ship-handling and small boat handling; operation of deck...

 to be so rated
Naval rating
A Naval Rating is an enlisted member of a country's Navy, subordinate to Warrant Officers and Officers hence not conferred by commission or warrant...

 by their captain. A seaman with less than a year's experience was referred to as a landman
Landman (rank)
Landman was a military rank given to naval recruits.-United Kingdom: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...

, and one with more than two years' experience was referred to as an able seaman
Able Seaman (rank)
In the British Royal Navy in the middle of the 18th century, the term able seaman referred to a seaman with at least two years' experience at sea...

.

Later, the term was formalized as a rating for the lowest normal grade of seaman
Seaman
Seaman is one of the lowest ranks in a Navy. In the Commonwealth it is the lowest rank in the Navy, followed by Able Seaman and Leading Seaman, and followed by the Petty Officer ranks....

. They are not trained in any special task. They are required to work at physically hard tasks of great variety. One needs an Ordinary Seaman Certificate to obtain work. One can become an able seaman as a promotion from this position.

The term ordinary seaman is currently used in the Canadian and Irish Naval Forces (who inherited the military ranking structure from the previous generation of Royal Navy, Army, and Air Force ranks.) It denotes an enlistee who is currently in training as a non-commission member (NCM) of the Forces.
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