The Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine Ranking system - b. NCOs and Cadet Ranks
Illustrated below are the uniform insignia worn by Kriegsmarine personnel holding non-commissioned officer and cadet rank. Insignia was worn on the collar, sleeve/cuff or shoulder or a combination of two of these three elements.
*The sleeve patches of the ranks of -maat and Ober-maat represented the trade of the wearer, as did the rank title. The examples shown here illustrate the sleeve patches worn by a Bootsmannmaat and Oberbootsmannmaat respectively. A radio or signals operator equivalent of the Bootsmannsmaat, for example, would have been given the rank of Funkmannsmaat, and the sleeve patch worn would have been a lightning flash. Likewise, the sleeve patch of an Oberfunkmannsmaat would have been the same lightning flash but with the additional lower chevron indicating the senior of the two ranks. The ranks of Fähnrich and Oberfähnrich were held by officer cadets.
