# RCN Naval ranks



## Atrian42 (10 Jan 2013)

I came across a profile for naval officers serving aboard corvettes in WWII. Some of the rank abbreviations have a "T" in front of them. For example "T/Lt" and "T/Lt.Cdr." Does anybody know what the initial "T" stands for? An example webpage is at http://uboat.net/allies/commanders/1570.html.


----------



## ModlrMike (10 Jan 2013)

It may mean Technical or Temporary. I don't quite understand how T/A/LCdr works as the A is clearly for acting and the T is for temporary.


----------



## Rheostatic (10 Jan 2013)

This page says "Temporary": http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RN_officers_help.htm#Abbreviations


			
				http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RN_officers_help.htm#Abbreviations said:
			
		

> Between two promotions officers can hold an "acting" rank (indicated with "A/"). This can either be a temporary "acting" rank (for the duration of a certain posting only) or a substantive "acting" rank (kind of an in-between promotion).


----------



## Atrian42 (12 Jan 2013)

Thanks for the info on navy ranks!


----------



## Monsoon (12 Jan 2013)

As I understand it, the usage in the RCN was to distinguish, during WWII, between officers of the permanent force navy and those enrolled for the duration of hostilities only in the temporary force. Most RCN officers enrolled during the war had "Temporary" rank; they could also have "Acting" rank if they were in a position higher than their established "Temporary" rank. Permanent force officers could also have "Acting" rank.

There was also something called "Probationary" rank, leading to the wonderful "Probationary Temporary Acting Sub-Lieutenant (P/T/A/Slt)", but I have no idea what that could specify, and I'm not certain how all the various prefixes align with deemed seniority, and with the fact that most (but for whatever reason, not all) of the temporary force officers were also considered to be RCNVR (reserve).

It's all a rich tapestry.


----------



## Blackadder1916 (12 Jan 2013)

Back a few decades, I had occasion to review the service (and medical) records of a number of individuals who had served during WW2.  While the use of "T", "A" and "P" may have been recognized as abbreviations for Temporary, Acting and Probationary, it appeared that only "A" was the official single letter prefix abbreviation.  In service records it seemed that Temporary and Probationary ranks were always indicated by (Temp) and (Py) following the rank, e.g. a Provisional Temporary Acting Sub-Lieutenant would be A/S/Lt (Temp) (Py).  I also noted that when a rating held temporary rank it was abbeviated to (Ty).   Acting rank could also be further delineated as "While Holding Appointment" (WHA) if the officer held certain designated positions (usually while in command or a very specific staff position), e.g. A/Cdr (WHA).


----------

