Commodore (Royal Navy)

Please see Commodore (rank) for other versions of this rank.

Commodore insignia

Rank pennant

Commodore (Cdre) is a rank of the Royal Navy above Captain and below Rear admiral. It has a NATO ranking code of OF-6. The rank is equivalent to Brigadier in the British Army and Royal Marines and to Air commodore in the Royal Air Force.

Insignia

A modern Commodore's rank insignia consists of a 45mm wide band of gold lace, with a circle of 13mm wide lace 45mm in diameter above. [1]

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 (44 mm) 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.^{[citation needed]} The rest of the uniform is identical to that of a Rear admiral.

Historical

Historically, Commodore was an appointment conferred on senior Captains and was split into two grades, Commodores First and Second Class. Typically a Commodore would command a number of ships, for example a destroyer squadron. A Commodore Second Class would command their own ship as well as the formation while a Commodore First Class would have a Flag captain to run his ship.

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 (44 mm) 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.

See also

• Commodore-in-Chief
• United States One-star rank

References

"Naval Service Uniform Regulations" (PDF). Fleet Publications and Graphics Organisation. May 2009. http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/upload/package/66/brd81book/ch03.pdf. Retrieved 19 September 2011.