Editing Imperial Navy (section)

=== NCO Ranks ===

*'''Ship Master''' - the most senior Warrant officer on board a starship, also quite possibly the busiest man on the starship. It's his job to maintain the logs, update stellar navigation charts, oversee ships stores and order supplies, and command a hangar deck if there is one. Basically he's the guy who knows the ship better than anyone. In real-world historical usage, this guy would have an authority equivalent to a Lieutenant on board a starship, and would "mess" ''(ie: occupy the same space)'' as the other officers do.
*'''Bosun''' - ''(Shorthand for Boatswain)'' The NCO directly responsible for all of the common crew members, including work planning, scheduling, training, and [[Commissar|enforcing discipline]]. Despite his position, his actual rank may vary depending upon the size of vessel or operational requirements, in practice it never really matters since he's unlikely to ever meet another Boatswain. ''(real-world Boatswains are typically petty officers or warrant officers, but could be of any rank. They held responsibility over all areas of the ship other than Engineering, which was left to the Chief Engineer, as if the bosun disciplined/executed/imprisoned a skilled crewman from that department the ship could be crippled because of it)''.
**Note that most Capital Ships, but not all Escort ships, may have an actual Naval [[Commissar]] on board in this role, tasked with maintaining discipline up to and [[Blam|including]] the Officer compliment.
*'''Chief Warrant Officer''' - Also called "Chief Petty Officer" on some vessels. Will often be given command of important ship sections ''(like Chief Engineers, helmsmen, or auspex control, as these are critical to ongoing operation of a starship)''
*'''Chief Enginseer''' - This one is complicated. The engineering section of Imperial Navy vessels falls under jurisdiction of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]], which maintains their own byzantine system of ranks among [[Techpriest|techpriests]]. The ranking member of the mechanicus contingent will have shipboard authority equivalent to a Lieutenant. However, on capital ships or vessels featuring archaotech systems, the leading techpriest may well be a full [[Magos]]. Similarly, on ships traveling into unexplored space the leading techpriest might be an Explorator slumming it as an enginseer to ride along.
*'''Chief Navigator''' - Another complicated position. Imperial navy vessels invariably host a small contingent of [[navigator|navigators]] to guide the vessel through the warp. In practice, navigators aboard naval vessels answer ONLY to the commanding officer and show zero deference to any other member of the crew. It's not unheard of for navigators to give crewmembers the warp eye for the slightest transgression; there are even rare cases of navigators demanding ratings or mutineers to sacrifice to complete their navigation rites. If a vessel has [[astropath|astropaths]] aboard, they too generally answer directly to the commanding officer, although they're usually less haughty about it.
*'''Chief Surgeon''': Leads the ship's medicae. Can't downcheck officers, that's the Commissariat's job. Usually a Militarum doctor, but occasionally will be a [[Sister Hospitaler]] if the ship is in a war and the crew are lucky enough for [[Sisters of Battle]] to be barracked aboard for the duration of the campaign, and even more rarely a [[Magos]] Biologis if they're exploring or the crew seriously lucked out on campaign.
*'''Warrant Officer''' - You'll find lots of guys of equivalent rank on a ship, in command of various operational sections keeping the ship running at all times:
**Masters of Ordnance - make certain that Torpedoes and Attack craft (if any) are fueled and maintained.
**Master Gunner - have responsibility over all of the weapons batteries through the Gun Captains and make sure they are loaded and fired when required.
**Master-at-Arms - responsible for all "small" arms on board a starship, overseeing all Sergeants-at-Arms, as well as maintaining order over any barracked Guard regiments currently in transit.
**Master of the Vox - making sense out of the bazillions of messages that run through the bridge at any given moment both internally and externally ''(crews can get pretty massive, and a lot of traffic can come through at once)''.
**Steward - the guy who keeps everyone else well fed.
*'''Gun Captain''' - Funnily enough, the man in charge of a single gun crew. Makes sure that the weapon is taken care of, is reloaded quickly enough, and <s>is accurate when asked to fire</s>, asking the local Enginseer to ensure the gun is accurate when asked to fire. All of that comes back to this guy. . .and the Enginseer.
*'''[[Navis Sergeant-At-Arms|Sergeant-at-Arms]]''' - Man in charge of the weapons lockers and leader of boarding parties, as well as maintaining ship-board security. Usually they are transferred from [[Imperial Guard]] regiments so that they don't have any prior association with the crew, though it likely depends from fleet to fleet. The Sergeants-At-Arms generally directly lead the elite Breacher squads.
*'''[[Voidsmen-at-Arms|Armsmen]]''' - Occasionally referred to as Voidsmen-at-Arms. Crewmen trusted to carry weapons. They train extensively with Lasguns, concussion grenades, and low caliber rotor cannons that are unlikely to chew up starship hulls, as well as getting to wear flak-armour. Since they are trusted more, they have slightly more freedom to move around the vessel as well. They are not [[Imperial Guard|true soldiers]] since offensive boarding actions tend to be rare, so these guys still have their own regular responsibilities on board ship, yet Armsmen can come from the common ratings all the way up to the Officer ranks. On some ships the crewmen really don't want the job, since it means they get scrutinised more, and they might be ordered to beat up their buddies. On other ships, they are set above the toiling classes and are necessary for keeping them in line.
**'''[[Imperial Navy Breachers|Breachers]]''' - the elite amongst the Armsmen who get to wear even heavier void-armour and carry nastier weapons like explosives and melta-guns that would otherwise be suicidal to use inside a starship. Not only are they the primary defensive contingent on board a ship, but they are also the go-to crew members if an enemy ship needs boarded or an [[Star Trek|away team]] is called upon.
*'''Voidsmen''' - the lowest rank of crewman on board a Naval Starship above the [[Servitor]]s unless the Captain is cool with slavery. If they have a skill or a trade they may be referred to as '''Able Voidsmen''' which is an official rank that might require examinations. Additionally, if they show leadership qualities they might be promoted to '''Leading Voidsman''' and put in charge of work gangs and be considered for promotion to Warrant Officer if a position opens up.