Commodore (rank)

The military rank of Commodore is used in some navies for officers whose position exceeds that of a Captain, but is less than that of a flag officer.

Royal Navy and other Commonwealth navies

Use of the term "commodore" in the Royal Navy dates to the mid-17th century: it was first used in the time of William III. There was a need for officers to command squadrons, but it was not deemed desirable to create new admirals. Captains assigned squadron command were given this title, but it was not an actual rank. The officer so designated kept his place on the list of captains. In 1748 it was established that captains serving as commodores were equal to brigadier generals.

Related Topics:
Royal Navy - 17th century - William III - Captain - 1748 - Brigadier general

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The Royal Navy commodore eventually became split into two classes. Those of the first class had a captain under them to command their ship. Those of the second class commanded their own ship as well as the squadron. In 1783, commodores of the first class were allowed to wear the uniform of a rear admiral, a distinction which continued with some variation until the two classes of commodore were consolidated in 1958. In 1996 the rank of commodore was made a substantive rank in the Royal Navy: previously it had been merely a temporary rank, and commodores used to revert to the rank of captain at the end of their posting (and captains could be promoted directly to Rear Admiral).

Related Topics:
Royal Navy - 1783 - 1958 - 1996

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Commodores first class, while wearing the sleeve stripes of a rear admiral, had gold lace-covered epaulettes and shoulder-boards with a crown, two stars and anchor (also worn by other commodores but only with formal uniforms). They flew a swallow-tailed pennant with the St George's cross, but without the disc that appeared on the pennant of a second class commodore. Commodores second class wore a single 1.75 in. wide row of lace below a ring measuring 1.75 in. in diameter on both sleeve and shoulder-board (and this is the insignia worn by modern commodores). Their uniforms are otherwise the same as for captains.

Related Topics:
Pennant - St George's cross

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Some Commonwealth countries have replaced Commodore with an equivalent flag rank, the (correct) insignia of which is a single 1.75 in. wide row of sleeve lace below a gold lace ring with a diamater of 2 in., and a crown (or comparable emblem for republics) with a crossed sword and baton on a gold lace-covered shoulder-board. (There is some variation due to misconceptions about the status of stars in Commonwealth-style rank insignia.) The rest of the uniform is identical to that of a rear admiral.

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