Commodore    

Commodore
CF tunic braid shown
Seniority
Above:	Captain(N)
Below:	Rear Admiral

Commodore is a naval rank used in many navies for officers whose position exceeds that of a navy captain, but is less than that of a rear admiral.

It may be referred to as a one star rank. Whether "commodore" is a flag rank (or not) varies by country. Often, "rear admiral" is the first of the "flag ranks". For example, it was not until 2001 that the UK made "commodore" a "flag rank", and changed the rank insignia of the higher ranking admirals accordingly. Australia made this change in the mid 1990s, and also changed the commodore rank insignia to include a star.</ref> The U.S. Navy designates the rank as Rear Admiral (Lower Half)

It is abbreviated as Cmdre and is sometimes confused with the "Cmdr" abbreviation for the rank of "commander".</ref>

History

The rank of Commodore derives from the French commandeur, which was one of the highest ranks in orders of knighthood, and in military orders the title of the knight in charge of a commenda (a local part of the order's territorial possessions).

The Royal Netherlands Navy also used the rank of commandeur from the end of the 16th century for a variety of temporary positions, until it became a conventional permanent rank in 1955. The Royal Netherlands Air Force has adopted the English spelling of Commodore for an equivalent rank.

The rank of Commodore was at first a position created as a temporary title to be bestowed upon Captains who commanded squadrons of more than one vessel. In many navies, the rank of Commodore was merely viewed as a Senior Captain position, whereas other naval services bestowed upon the rank of Commodore the prestige of flag officer status - Commodore is the highest rank in the Irish Naval Service, for example, and is held by only one person. In the Royal Navy, the position was introduced to combat the cost of appointing more Admirals - a costly business with a fleet as large as the Royal Navy's at that time.

In 1899 the substantive rank of Commodore was discontinued in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard, but revived during World War II. It was discontinued as a rank in these services during the postwar period, but as an appointment, the title "Commodore" was then used to identify senior U.S. Navy Captains who commanded squadrons of more than one vessel or functional air wings or air groups that were not part of a carrier air wing or air group. Concurrently, until the early 1980s, U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard Captains selected for promotion to the rank of Rear Admiral (Lower Half), would wear the same insignia as Rear Admiral (Upper Half), i.e., two stars or sleeve braid of one wide and one narrow gold stripe, even though they were actually only equivalent to one star officers. To correct this inequity, the rank of Commodore as a single star Flag Officer was reinstated by both services in the early 1980s. This immediately caused confusion with those senior U.S. Navy Captains commanding destroyer squadrons, submarine squadrons, functional air wings and air groups, etc., who held the temporary "title" of Commodore. As a result of this confusion, the services soon renamed the new one star rank as Commodore Admiral (CADM) within the first six months following the rank's reintroduction. This was considered an awkward title and the rank was renamed a few months later to its current title of Rear Admiral (Lower Half), or RDML. The "title" of Commodore continues to be used in the U.S. Navy for those senior Captains in command of organizations consisting of groups of ships or submarines organized into squadrons, air wings or air groups of aviation squadrons other than carrier air wings, special warfare (SEAL) groups, and construction battalion (SeaBee) regiments. Although not Flag Officers, modern day Commodores in the U.S. Navy rate a blue and white command pennant that is normally flown at their headquarters facilities ashore or from ships they are aboard.

Canada

Commodore is the lowest of the flag officer ranks in the Canadian Navy; it is equivalent to Brigadier General in the Army or Air Force. It is junior to Rear Admiral or Major General, and senior to Captain or Colonel.

The insignia of the Commodore is a single maple leaf, above which is a crossed sabre and baton surmounted by a St. Edwards' crown. This insignia is worn on the shoulder strap of the dress uniform tunic, along with a wide gold band on each sleeve. The insignia is also worn on shoulder boards and rank slip-ons.

Canadian Naval officer's rank update

Canadian Forces insignia for a Cmdre, between unification until 2011

On 5 March 2010, Conservative Member of Parliament for the riding of Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry, Mr. Guy Lauzon, issued the following motion: ""That, in the opinion of the House, in light of the upcoming centennial of the Canadian Navy, the government should consider reinstating the Navy executive curl on its uniforms." The motion passed, and on 2 May 2010, (Battle of the Atlantic Sunday), the Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Peter Gordon Mackay, P.C., Q.C., B.A., LL.B., made the announcement of the return of the Executive Curl for Canadian naval officers.

Canadian commodores will begin add the executive curl staring on 11 June 2010 over their wide gold braid, and will loose the shoulder straps. However, flag officer slip ons and shoulder boards will remain the same.

United Kingdom

RN rank of commodore

History

The appointment of Commodore 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 (as Post-Captains were promoted to Rear-Admiral in order of seniority). Captains assigned squadron command were given the title of Commodore, 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 in the Army.

Commodores could revert to the rank of Captain at the end of their posting (and Captains could be promoted directly to Rear-Admiral without ever having served as a Commodore).

The Royal Navy Commodore was eventually split into two classes. Those of the first class had a Captain under them to command their ship and were allocated one-eighth of all prize money earned by ships under their command. 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.

By the 20th century, Commodores did not just command seagoing units (the naval barracks in the three main naval bases of Devonport, Portsmouth and Chatham were all commanded by Commodores, for instance) and the appointment of Commodore could also be held by specialist officers in certain positions as well as by line officers.

In 1996, Commodore was made a substantive rank in the Royal Navy.

Insignia

Commodores First Class, while wearing the sleeve stripes of a Rear-Admiral, had gold lace-covered epaulettes with a crown, two stars and an 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 inch-wide row of lace below a ring (known in naval regulations as a curl) measuring 1.75 inches in diameter on both sleeve and shoulder-board. Their uniforms were otherwise the same as for Captains.

Modern Commodores wear the insignia previously worn by Commodores Second Class.

Equivalent naval ranks

Some Commonwealth countries have replaced Commodore with an equivalent flag rank. The correct sleeve insignia for such a rank is a single 1.75 inch-wide row of gold lace below a gold lace curl with a diameter of 2 inches. The correct shoulder-board insignia comprises a crown (or national emblem for republics) with a crossed sword and baton on a gold lace-covered shoulder-board, however, 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.

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original article was at Commodore (rank). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. Information concerning use of copyright protected material can be found at the CWwiki Copyright Policy Page.

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original article was at Commodore (Royal Navy). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. Information concerning use of copyright protected material can be found at the CWwiki Copyright Policy Page.

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original article was at Commodore (Canada). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. Information concerning use of copyright protected material can be found at the CWwiki Copyright Policy Page.