Use this guide to interpret a range of abbreviations found in Merchant Navy service records from 1835 to 1972. Trivia time: the three stripes on today's "cracker jack" uniform (Navy dress blues) (piping on the sleeves) used to be rank stripes for seaman 2nd class (two stripes) and seaman 1st class (three stripes). Abbreviation Upper Sleeve World War II example Cold War example The pay grades of E-8 and E-9 were created on June 1, 1958. Stoker Petty Officer. MILITARY ABBREVIATIONS: Many military graves are inscribed with abbreviations that denote the unit of service, rank, medals, or other information on the military veteran. ... SN - Seaman. Return to top of page. SPC - Specialist. Stoker, Fire Fighter. SPCO - Senior Chief Petty Officer. The word ‘stoker’ is now only a colloquial term for a marine engineering technician, but in our records you might find your relative listed as any of the following: Chief Stoker. U.S. Army and Marine Corps Ranks 1st Lt E-1 Apprentice Seaman (World War II) Seaman Recruit SR none S3c SR E-2 Seaman 2nd Class (World War II) Seaman Apprentice SA S2c SA E-3 2. Do you need help with an abbreviation or deciphering documents World War II. Divers, first class, wear the mark without the "M." M ASTER H ORIZONTAL B OMBER --Men who have qualified as master horizontal bombers wear cross wires of a gun sight with a falling bomb in the center midway between the shoulder and elbow of the left sleeve for men of the seaman branch and on the right sleeve for others. Seaman, previously known as Seaman First Class, is the third rank in the United States Seaman Apprentice and below Petty Officer Third Class.Several title and rank variations exist for sailors working in different specialties, though all share the same pay and rank grade. Leading Stoker. WW2 Abbreviations and Acronyms When you research a soldier who served in either the British or Indian Army during the Second World War you’ll be confronted by a wide range of military jargon. This is often in the form of abbreviations and acronyms and can make reading military documents very difficult. SR - Seaman Recruit. This is a list of Navy Cross recipients for World War II. The abbreviations shown correspond to rank and ratings that appear on the casualty list and were in use at the time of the attack in December 1941. World War II, or the Second World War, was a global military conflict, the joining of what had initially been two separate conflicts.The first began in Asia in 1937 as the Second Sino-Japanese War; the other began in Europe in 1939 with the German and Soviet invasion of Poland. other branches. The old designation "S1" meant "Seaman First Class" which is today's E-3 (Seaman). S1C - Seaman First Class. Merchant seamen serving since 1918. ... First, Second and Third Class Petty Officers; Seaman Branch. The enlisted structure of the US Navy in World War II was similar to that of the present day, but there were a still number of differences specific to the various branches of personnel. ... WW2 or WWII - World War II. Title: Ranks_Merchant_Marine Author: Vicky Holly Subject: Merchant Marine Ranks Keywords: Merchant Marine; Ranks; Abbreviations Created Date: 8/31/2010 7:46:05 AM Stoker, 1st Class. This was either pre or during World War II. Stoker, 2nd Class. Merchant seamen of the First World War.