GLOSSARY OF TERMS
USED IN "THE ROUNDTABLE FORUM"
Except as noted, these definitions apply to the
Battle of Midway era. Some of them were changed in subsequent years.
1/c, 2/c, 3/c......First,
Second, or Third Class (navy enlisted rank indicator, i.e. “AMM3/c”)
A6M2...............Japanese Type 00
("Zero") fighter, a.k.a. "Zeke"
ADM.................admiral (officer rank,
equivalent to a full general in the army)
AE....................ammunition ship
AF....................Japanese code
designator for Midway
AKA.................Attack cargo ship,
part of amphibious fleet.
AMM................Aviation Machinist's
Mate (enlisted specialty)
AO....................oil tanker
AOG.................tanker carrying
gasoline
AOM.................Aviation Ordnanceman
(enlisted specialty)
APA..................Attack troop ship,
part of amphibious fleet.
ARM.................Aviation Radioman (enlisted
specialty)
Avenger...........TBF/TBM torpedo bomber
BB....................battleship
BZ....................flaghoist signal
meaning "well done." Also spoken as bravo zulu (modern
usage).
Belconnen......common name in the BOM era for
FRUMEL
Betty.................IJN land-based twin
engine bomber, Mitsubishi G4M1 Type 1
Blackshoe......slang for USN personnel in
non-aviation specialties (see Brownshoe)
BOM.................The Battle of Midway
BOMRT............The Battle of Midway
Roundtable
Brownshoe....slang for USN aviation personnel
(see Blackshoe)
Buffalo.............Brewster F2A fighter
Bulkhead.........the "wall" on a ship
or aircraft
CA....................heavy cruiser
CAG.................the air group
commander on a carrier
CAP.................Combat Air
Patol: a sortie of fighters tasked with fleet or base defense
CAPT...............a naval captain of O-6 rank,
equivalent to an army colonel
Captain...........either an O-6 officer (see
above) or the commander of a ship, regardless of rank
Catalina..........(also "Cat") PBY
patrol bomber
CDR................Commander (officer
rank, equivalent to an army lieutenant colonel)
CEAG.............Commander, Enterprise Air
Group (LCDR C. Wade McClusky)
CHAG.............Commander, Hornet Air
Group (CDR Stanhope Ring)
CHC................Chaplain Corps
CINCPAC........Commander in Chief, Pacific
Fleet (ADM Chester Nimitz)
CIU...................Combat Intelligence
Unit (CDR Joseph Rochefort’s ComInt operation in Hawaii)
CL....................light cruiser
CO...................commanding officer
COM14............Commander, 14th Naval
District (shore command in Hawaii)
COMINCH.......Commander In Chief, U.S.
Fleet (ADM Ernest J. King)
ComInt............Communications Intelligence
Commodore....an obsolete USN officer rank,
equivalent to an army brigadier general. Also....
Commodore....the commander of a division or
squadron of ships, regardless of rank
CPO...............Chief Petty Officer (E-7
in the modern USN enlisted rank structure)
CTF................Commander, Task Force
(i.e., CTF-17)
CV..................aircraft carrier
CVE................escort carrier (a.k.a.
"jeep" carrier)
CVL................light aircraft carrier
CVN...............modern nuclear-powered
aircraft carrier
CWO..............Chief Warrant
Officer. A commissioned WO.
CYAG............Commander, Yorktown Air
Group (CDR Oscar Pederson)
Dauntless......SBD dive bomber
DD, DE..........destroyer, destroyer-escort
DF..................direction
finder, direction finding (see RDF)
Devastator....TBD torpedo bomber
EAG................Enterprise Air
Group
EM.................Electrician's Mate
(enlisted specialty)
ENS...............Ensign (officer rank,
equivalent to an army second lieutenant)
F2A................Brewster Buffalo
fighter
F4F................Wildcat fighter
Fantail...........the rounded, aft-end of a
ship's weather deck; the stern of a ship
FC.................Fire Controlman
(gunfire control director--enlisted specialty)
F....................Fireman (non-rated
enlisted sailor with below-decks engineering duties; modern = FN)
FRUMEL.......Fleet Radio Unit, Melbourne (CIU
counterpart in Australia; post-BOM name)
FRUPAC.......Fleet Radio Unit, Pacific
(post-BOM name for CIU Pearl Harbor)
HAG................Hornet Air Group
HYPO............unofficial name for CIU
Pearl Harbor. Also “Station HYPO.”
IJA.................Imperial Japanese Army
IJN.................Imperial Japanese Navy
JN-25.............IJN communications
encryption code
Kate...............IJN torpedo bomber (also
used as a carrier-borne level bomber), B5N2
Kido Butai.....IJN First Striking Force, or First
Air Fleet (Nagumo's carriers and support vessels)
LCDR.............Lieutenant Commander
(officer rank, equivalent to an army major)
Long Lance...Japanese torpedo
LT..................Lieutenant (officer rank,
equivalent to an army captain)
LTjg...............Lieutenant Junior Grade
(officer rank, equivalent to an army first lieutenant)
MACH............Warrant Machinist (see
WO). Rank commonly held by USN warrant officer pilots.
MAG...............Marine Air Group
MarDefBn.....Marine Defense Battalion
MCPO............Master Chief Petty Officer
(E-9 in the modern enlisted rank structure)
Mess..............dining facility
ashore, or shipboard space for same
Messdeck......shipboard enlisted dining space
MSGT.............Master Sergeant
MUS.............Musician (enlisted
specialty)
NAP............."Naval Aviation
Pilot" (petty officer rating for enlisted pilots)
NMNA..........National Museum of Naval
Aviation, Pensacola FL
OP-20-G.......Office of Communications
Intelligence, Washington DC
PBY..............Catalina patrol bomber
PhoM............Photographer's Mate
(enlisted specialty)
PO................Petty Officer (navy
non-coms, equivalent to army corporals and sergeants)
RADM..........Rear Admiral (officer rank,
equivalent to an army major general)
RDF.............Radio
Direction Finder (or Finding). Also
called “DF”
RE................Warrant Radio
Electrician (see WO)
R/G...............radioman/gunner
(aircrew)
RM................Radioman (enlisted
specialty)
SBD..............Dauntless dive bomber
SCPO...........Senior Chief Petty Officer
(E-8 in the modern enlisted rank structure)
Screw...........a ship's propeller
Scuttlebutt..slang term indicating unofficial
information or rumors
Sea................Seaman. Sometimes shown as S3/c, S2/c, or S1/c. (modern = SN)
Sickbay........medical facilities on a ship
SigInt............Signals Intelligence (same
as ComInt)
SNAFU.........WWII contemporary
slang: “situation normal: all fouled
up”
SOC..............scout/observation
aircraft carried on USN cruisers and battleships
SS.................submarine
Stateroom.....an officer's quarters on a ship
(but for the captain only, it's the "cabin")
TAD...............Temporary Additional Duty
(a temporary transfer--same as TDY in the Army)
TBD...............Devastator torpedo bomber
TBF, TBM......Avenger torpedo bomber
TF..................Task Force (a
subdivision of a fleet)
TG.................Task Group (a
subdivision of a Task Force)
VADM............Vice Admiral (officer rank,
equivalent to an army lieutenant general)
Val.................Japanese dive bomber,
Aichi D3A1 Type 99
VB.................bombing squadron, or
Navy/Marine bombing aircraft in general
VF.................fighter squadron, or
Navy/Marine fighters in general
VMF..............Marine fighter squadron
VMSB...........Marine scouting/bombing
squadron
VP.................patrol squadron
VS.................scouting squadron, or
scouting aircraft in general
VSB..............scouting and bombing
squadrons, or their aircraft in general
VT.................torpedo squadron, or
torpedo attack aircraft in general
Wildcat.........F4F fighter
WO................Warrant Officer.
Usually promoted from the enlisted ranks as a technical specialist.
XO................Executive Officer; the
second in command in any USN or USMC unit.
Y...................Yeoman (ship or
squadron clerk). Modern = YN.
YAG...............Yorktown Air
Group
Zero.............Japanese A6M Type
00 fighter, a.k.a. "Zeke"
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