a

An Overview of 'Commodore' as Rank

Commissioned Officers' Career in the Royal Navy, 1690-1815
Extract from The Journal for Maritime Research

Captains might hold the temporary rank of Commodore. The word was borrowed from the Dutch in the seventeenth century, and initially referred to the senior officer for the time being of any group of ships not in the presence of an admiral. Initially in the Downs only, and later elsewhere, the senior Captain present would hoist a broad pendant and assume the title of 'Commodore' until some more senior officer appeared.9 In the eighteenth century the Commodore evolved into two distinct quasi-ranks, often called Commodore 'with a captain' and 'with a pendant', and formally distinguished in 1805 as First and Second Class Commodores. The Commodore with a flag-captain was a Captain appointed by the Admiralty as commander-in-chief of a squadron or station, and was for all practical purposes (including pay and uniform) a temporary Rear-Admiral. The Commodore with a pendant (i.e. with a pendant alone) was a senior Captain ordered by his commander-in-chief to hoist a broad pendant and command a detached squadron or a division of the fleet; for example when an admiral commanding a squadron large enough to be divided into the traditional three divisions found himself with only one junior flag officer, he would order the senior Captain to hoist a pendant and command the rear division. Such a Commodore commanded his own ship and received no extra pay. In principle a Commodore could be chosen from anywhere in the Captains' List, and during the Seven Years War Lord Anson used the rank with some freedom to obtain active commanders-in-chief who were not yet senior enough to be made admirals, but it was regarded as impossible for a Commodore to command Captains senior to himself, and as a rule the Commodore was near the top of the Captains' List and on his way to becoming a Rear-Admiral. For the purposes of this study, Commodore, as a temporary rank, has not been distinguished from Captain.
--------------------------

Some more on Commodores, from Wikipedia

Commodore derives from the French commandeur, which was one of the highest ranks in orders of knights. Its use in the Dutch navy dates from the end of the 16th century and it was used for a variety of temporary positions until it was fixed as the lowest "flag officer" rank in 1955. The 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.

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 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.

Commodores first class, while wearing the sleeve stripes of a rear admiral, used to have distinctive gold epaulettes and shoulder boards with a crown, two stars and anchor. They flew a swallow-tailed pennant with the St George's cross. Commodores second class (and all present-day commodores) wear a single broad ring of sleeve lace and wear blue instead of gold shoulder boards in tropical dress. Their pennant is differenced from the first class commodore's by a single red ball in the upper hoist. The rank of commodore is not a flag rank in the Royal Navy.

The rank of Commodore in the Royal Navy is not considered a flag rank, and Commodores fly swallow-tailed pennants bearing the cross of St George and a single red ball in the upper hoist. Instead of being referred to as flying their flag, Commodores fly their broad pennant.

In 1996, the rank of Admiral of the Fleet was put in abeyance in peacetime, except for members of the Royal family. However, Admirals of the Fleet promoted before 1996 continue to hold their rank on the active list for life.
---------------------------

.

~.~

Posted at Black Pearl Sails by Captain Erinrua on November 24, 2004