Seaman
A junior enlisted rate of the US Navy at pay grade E-3, NATO OR-3, the top of the apprentice sailor grades.
Overview
The Navy apprentice ladder runs Seaman Recruit E-1, Seaman Apprentice E-2, and Seaman E-3, marked by diagonal white stripes on the dress sleeve. Seamen are undesignated or striking toward a rating, learning seamanship, damage control, and watchstanding before formal specialization. The word seaman is ancient, attested in Old English as saemann, and the modern rating structure grew from the Naval Act of 1794 and its successive personnel acts. Pay grade E-3 corresponds to NATO OR-3, and the title varies by branch of the shipboard trade: seaman, airman, fireman, constructionman.
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