The Dutch navy has since the early 17th century included a midshipman rank which literally means 'young gentleman' (); today, "adelborsten" train at the Royal Netherlands Naval College () for 3 years. Officer cadets in the German navy begin their training at the Naval Academy Mürwik () in Flensburg-Mürwik holding enlisted ranks with the qualifier officer candidate (), abbreviated as OA. After about a year, they are promoted to "Seekadetten", equivalent to the non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank Mate (), and move to the University of the German Federal Armed Forces. About nine months later, they are promoted to "Fähnrich zur See" rank, equivalent to the NCO rank Boatswain (). After 30 months of total training they are promoted to the final officer candidate rank, "Oberfähnrich zur See", equivalent to the NCO rank "Hauptbootsmann", and after about 4 years of total training graduate with a bachelor's degree.