Insignia of a Leutnant zur See
Leutnant zur See (Lt zS or LZS) is the lowest officer rank in the German Navy. It is grouped as OF1 in NATO, equivalent to an Ensign in the United States Navy, and an Acting Sub-Lieutenant in the British Royal Navy
The rank was introduced in the German Imperial Navy by renaming the former rank of Sekonde Lieutenant in 1890. In navy context officers of this rank were simply addressed as Herr Leutnant. To distinguish naval officers from officers of the army, the suffix zur See (at sea) was added in official communication, sometimes shortened to z.S. or Lt.z.S. The rank has since been used by the Reichsmarine, the Kriegsmarine and the German Navy. In the Volksmarine the rank was originally used in the same way until the suffix zur See was dropped.
In the Austro-Hungarian Navy this rank was called k.u.k. Korvettenleutnant.
| Junior Rank Oberfähnrich zur See Oberstabsbootsmann |
German Navy officer rank Leutnant zur See |
Senior Rank Oberleutnant zur See |
See also
The original article can be found at Leutnant zur See and the edit history here.