Naval rating

Depending on the country and navy that uses it, the exact term and the range of ranks that it refers to may vary.

The term comes from the general nautical usage of 'rating', to refer to a seaman's class or grade as recorded in the ship's books.

[1] The system of conferring authority on sailors in the Royal Navy evolved through the recognition of competence: landsman, ordinary seaman, able seaman, through to the appointment of authority as a petty officer.

The general structure for ratings in the Royal Navy now used breaks down into four major groupings:[2] In the United States Navy (USN), the term bluejacket is used instead to refer to enlisted sailors that rank below a chief petty officer.

[5] In the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard, the term rate refers to an enlisted member's pay grade (i.e. relative seniority or rank), while rating refers to occupational field.

Equity or a Sailor's Prayer before Battle , from the Battle of Trafalgar . A 19th-century caricature portraying ratings on a Royal Navy ship. The man with a sword is a commissioned officer , as is the man on the ladder with the telescope. All others are ratings.
The Royal Navy during the Second World War . Six naval rating recruits of the training ship HMS Impregnable , Devonport, scramble up the rigging during a daily training exercise.
Royal Navy Certificate of Service (Form S.459), given to all ratings on discharge .