Rank & role
FN — First Navigator
The abbreviated form of First Navigator, used throughout the institutional record and in signature blocks — 'FN tenure', 'the FN seat', 'FN rotation'. Confirmed in published prose.
Table
Rank & role
Stands for
First Navigator
Ladder
Navigation — a licensed technical qualification
Canon status
Confirmed
About the rank & role
Two ladders run in parallel and are frequently confused: a NAVIGATION ladder, which is a licensed technical qualification, and a COMMAND ladder, which is an institutional appointment. A ship can carry a highly-rated navigator who commands nothing, and the rank of Captain did not exist at all until it was created mid-voyage in 2192.