Editing First lieutenant (section)

==United Kingdom==

===British Army===
{{main|Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)}}
In the [[British Army]] and [[Royal Marines]], the rank above [[second lieutenant]] is simply [[lieutenant]] (pronounced ''lef-tenant''), with no ordinal attached.

Before 1871, when the whole British Army switched to using the current rank of "lieutenant", the [[Royal Artillery]], [[Royal Engineers]] and [[fusilier]] [[regiment]]s used "first lieutenant" and "second lieutenant".

===Royal Navy===
The ''first lieutenant'' (often abbreviated "1st Lt") in a [[Royal Navy]] ship is a post or appointment, rather than a rank.

Historically the lieutenants in a ship were ranked in accordance with seniority, with the most senior being termed the first lieutenant and acting as the [[second-in-command]], unless the ship was complemented with a [[Commander (Royal Navy)|commander]].  Although lieutenants are no longer ranked by seniority, the post of "first lieutenant" remains. In minor war vessels, [[destroyer]]s, [[frigate]]s, and [[submarine]]s, the ''first lieutenant'' is second in command, [[executive officer]] (XO) and head of the executive branch; in larger ships where a commander of the warfare specialization is appointed as the executive officer, a ''first lieutenant'' is appointed as their deputy.  The post of ''first lieutenant'' in a [[shore establishment]] carries a similar responsibility to the ''first lieutenant'' of a [[capital ship]]. Colloquial terms in the [[Royal Navy]] for the ''first lieutenant'' include "[[Number One (Royal Navy)|number one]]", "the jimmy" (or "jimmy the one") and "James the First" (a back-formation referring to [[James I of England]]).<ref name=Partridge>Partridge, p 612, p 621, p 884</ref> The first lieutenant may hold the rank of [[sub-lieutenant]], lieutenant or [[lieutenant-commander]].