Maat (rank)

Maat
shoulder board / cuff title / mounting loop
Rank insignia	German NCO rank
Introduction	1955
Rank group	Non-commissioned officers
Navy	Maat
Army / Air Force	Unteroffizier
NATO equivalent	OR-5
Navy	Petty officer, second class

Maat is a naval rank of the German Navy equivalent to the army/ air force rank of Unteroffizier. It is grouped as OR5 in NATO, equivalent to Petty officer, second class in the US Navy. However, Maate is also the collective name to all junior NCO-ranks (ranks: Maat, Seekadett, and Obermaat) in the modern day´s German Navy.

In navy context NCOs of this rank were formally addressed as Herr/ Frau Maat also informally / short Maat. The sequence of ranks (top-down approach) in that particular group is as follows:
Unteroffizier ohne Portepee

• OR-5a: Obermaat / (Heer/ Luftwaffe) Stabsunteroffizier
• OR-5b: Seekadett / Fahnenjunker
• OR-5c: Maat / Unteroffizier

The abbreviation "OR" stands for "Other Ranks / fr: sous-officiers et militaires du rang / ru:другие ранги, кроме офицероф"!

Equivalent in other NATO countries

• – Second-maître/ Tweede meester
• – Master Seaman/ Matelot-chefe classe
• – Desetnik
• – Sergent
• – Second-Maître
• – no equivalent
• – sergente
• – secondo capo
• – Sergeant
• – Kvartermester
• – Bosman
• – Primerio-subsargento/ Segundo-subsargento
• – Cabo mayor
• – RN: no equivalent
• – USN: Petty Officer Second Class

History

Nazi-Kriegsmarine rank insignia for Bootsmannsmaat

collar

The term is derived from the low German māt (comrade).^[1] Via the Dutch language, the word became a nautic term and described the assistant to a deck officer. Since the second half of the 17th century Maate were the lowest class of non-commissioned officers aboard a warship. In the Prussian Navy and the Kaiserliche Marine Maate were Unteroffiziere ohne Portepee. According to their specialization, Maate would be known as e.g. Steuermannsmaat (Coxswain's Mate), Feuerwerksmaat (Ordnance Mate), Bootsmannsmaat (Boatswain's Mate) or Maschinistenmaat (Machinist's Mate).^[2] Maate were recruited among conscripts who volunteered to serve for a minimum of six years. After approximately four years they could expect to become Maat. Re-enlistment was common but in most specialisms the career options would end with achieving the rank of Obermaat; only after 18 years in service a promotion as supernumary Vizefeldwebel was possible, if there was a billet open. The 1914/15 naval budget included 7857 billets for Maate and 5237 for Obermaate.^[3]

References

1. Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen. sv Maat
2. Wörterbuch zur deutschen Militärgeschichte, sv Maat.
3. Deutsche Militärgeschichte 1648-1939. Vol. VIII, p.283,285,292.