Awards, Qualifications, and Promotions
Throughout a player's career, it is possible to obtain promotions, awards, and qualifications, both for the player and members of the U-Boat crew. U-Boat crew members can be "enlisted" and "dismissed" at will, meaning that, decorated sailors can be rotated out with "green sailors" with no decorations or qualifications. Crew members can also be enlisted at any rank, although any new crew member who joins will have no awards and only officers may be recruited with pre-existing qualifications (enlisted sailors must earn their qualifications underway on the U-Boat).
Crew members can also be promoted based on combat experience. The various ranks listed in the game begin with basic sailors, followed by "Warrant Officers" (in reality Chief Petty Officers), and then officer ranks. A midshipman rank also exists, which is viewed in the game simply as another officer position. The various game ranks for enlisted sailors (as well as their real world Kriegsmarine equivalents) are:
- Seaman (Matrosengefreiter)
- Able Seaman (Matrosenobergefreiter)
- Veteran Seaman (Matrosenhauptgefreiter)
- Warrant Officer (Matrosenoberfeldwebel)
- Senior Warrant Officer (Matrosenhauptfeldwebel)
- Chief Warrant Officer (Matrosenstabsfeldwebel)
Although the lower sailor ranks are referred to in the game as "Seaman", the characters in fact wear the rank of Petty Officer; there are no actual seaman characters available (the rank of Matrose) nor is there a rank of basic Chief Petty Officer (Matrosenfeldwebel) since the warrant officer figures begin with a one pip shoulder strap insignia. It is also not possible to promote sailors between the various "castes", such as advancing a seaman to warrant officer or commissioning a warrant officer as an officer.
Available officer ranks are:
- Sub-Lieutenant (Oberfahnrich)
- Lieutenant, Jr. (Leutnant)
- Lieutenant, Sr. (Oberleutnant)
Midshipman rank is shown as a silver cord with two pips; lower midshipman grades are not used in the game.
Read more about this topic: Silent Hunter III
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