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Lieutenant commander

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Naval officer ranks
Flag officers
Senior officers
Junior officers
Comparative military ranks
Armies,
air forces
(non-Commonwealth)		 Navies,
coast guards		 Air forces
(Commonwealth system)
Flag commissioned officers
Field marshal or Marshal or Captain general Admiral of the fleet Marshal of the air force
General or
colonel general or
army general		 Admiral Air chief marshal
Lieutenant general or
army corps general		 Vice admiral Air marshal
Major general or
divisional general		 Rear admiral or
Counter admiral		 Air vice-marshal
Brigadier or
brigadier general		 Commodore or
flotilla admiral		 Air commodore
Senior commissioned officers
Colonel (Ship-of-the-line)
Captain		 Group captain
Lieutenant colonel Frigate captain or
Commander		 Wing commander
Major or
commandant		 Corvette captain or Lieutenant
commander		 Squadron leader
Junior commissioned officers
Captain Lieutenant Flight lieutenant
First lieutenant or
lieutenant		 Lieutenant
junior grade or
sub-lieutenant		 Flying officer
Second lieutenant or
junior lieutenant		 Ensign or
midshipman		 Pilot officer
Officer cadet Officer cadet Flight cadet
Non-commissioned officers
Warrant officer or
sergeant major		 Warrant officer or
chief petty officer		 Warrant officer
Sergeant Petty officer Sergeant
Enlisted ranks
Corporal or
bombardier		 Leading seaman Corporal
Lance corporal or
Lance bombardier or
Specialist		 Able seaman Leading aircraftman or
Air specialist
Private or
gunner or
trooper or
sapper		 Seaman Aircraftman or
airman or
aviator

Lieutenant Commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr,[1] LtCdr.,[2] LCDR,[3][4] or LCdr[5]) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank in most armies and air forces is major, and in the Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces is squadron leader. It is roughly equivalent to the Corvette Captain rank in central European countries and the Captain 3rd rank rank in eastern European/CIS countries.

The NATO rank code is mostly OF-3.[6]

A Lieutenant Commander is a department officer or the executive officer (second-in-command) on many warships and smaller shore installations, or the commanding officer of a smaller ship/installation.[7] They are also department officers in naval aviation squadrons.

Etymology

Some navies address Lieutenant Commanders by their full rank or the positions they occupy ("captain" if in command of a vessel).

In the British Royal Navy, United States Navy and Commonwealth Navies however, officers are addressed by their full rank if their full name is being used, or the higher grade of the rank if the officer is being addressed or referred to in shorthand. Therefore Lieutenant Commander John Smith Royal Navy is addressed as "Commander" or "Commander Smith", and referred to as "Commander Smith".[8] [9]

Famous examples of this are:

- Lieutenant Commander Lionel Crabb Royal Navy who in conversation, biopics, Admiralty correspondence and even statements in Parliament by the Prime Minister is almost invariably referred to as “Commander Crabb”.[10]

- Acting Temporary Lieutenant Commander Ewen Montagu RNVR, who is routinely referred to as "Commander Montagu" in historical and contemporary records, and in interviews by his colleagues on Operation Mincemeat. [11]

- Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, commonly referred to as “Admiral Nelson”

Origins

Lieutenants were commonly put in command of smaller vessels not warranting a commander or captain. Such a lieutenant was called a "lieutenant commanding" or "lieutenant commandant" in the United States Navy, and a "lieutenant in command", "lieutenant and commander", or "senior lieutenant" in the Royal Navy. The USN settled on "lieutenant commander" in 1862 and made it a distinct rank. The RN followed suit in March 1914.[12]

Canada

Main article: Lieutenant-commander (Canada)

In the Royal Canadian Navy, the rank of lieutenant-commander (LCdr)[5] is the naval rank equal to major in the army or air force and is the first senior officer rank. Lieutenant commanders are senior to lieutenants (N) and to army and air force captains, and are junior to commanders and lieutenant colonels.[6]

United Kingdom

Royal Navy

Main article: Lieutenant commander (Royal Navy)

The insignia worn by a Royal Navy lieutenant commander is two medium gold braid stripes with one thin gold stripe running in between, placed upon a navy blue/black background. The top stripe has the ubiquitous loop used in all RN officer rank insignia, except for the rank of Midshipman. The RAF follows this pattern with its equivalent rank of squadron leader.

Having fewer officer ranks than the army, the RN previously split some of its ranks by seniority (time in rank) to provide equivalence: hence a lieutenant with fewer than eight years seniority wore two stripes, and ranked with an army captain; a lieutenant of eight years or more wore two stripes with a thinner one in between, and ranked with a major. This distinction was ostensibly abolished when the rank of lieutenant commander was introduced, although promotion to the latter rank for officers on a full career commission (FCC) was automatic following accumulation of eight years' seniority as a lieutenant. Automatic promotion officially ceased in the early 21st century and promotion is ostensibly now only awarded on merit.

Royal Observer Corps

Throughout much of its existence, the British Royal Observer Corps (ROC) maintained a rank of observer lieutenant commander. The ROC wore a Royal Air Force uniform and their rank insignia appeared similar to that of an RAF squadron leader except that the stripes were shown entirely in black. Prior to the renaming, the rank had been known as observer lieutenant (first class).

United States

Main article: Lieutenant commander (United States)

In the United States, the rank of lieutenant commander exists in the United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps.

Within the U.S. Navy, lieutenant commanders are listed as junior officers. There are two insignia used by U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant commanders. On service khakis and all working uniforms, lieutenant commanders wear a gold oak leaf collar device, similar to the ones worn by majors in the United States Air Force and United States Army, and identical to that worn by majors in the United States Marine Corps. In all dress uniforms, they wear sleeve braid or shoulder boards bearing a single gold quarter-inch stripe between two gold half-inch strips (nominal size). Above or inboard of the stripes, they wear their speciality insignia (i.e., a star for officers of the line, single oak leaf for medical with silver acorn for Medical Corps, crossed oak leaves for Civil Engineer Corps, United States shield for the Coast Guard, etc.) The Uniformed Services of the United States designate the rank as O-4.[13]

References

  1. ^ "Triservice Officers Pay and Grade" (PDF). UK Government. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  2. ^ "A Dane giving the orders". Admiral Danish Fleet. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  3. ^ "US Navy Ranks". United States Navy. Archived from the original on 2 May 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  4. ^ "Uniform Ranks". Royal Australian Navy. Archived from the original on 24 January 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Royal Canadian Navy ranks and badges". Department of National Defence (Canada). 2023-08-30. Archived from the original on 2023-04-27. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  6. ^ a b "NATO Standard Agreement (STANAG) 2116: NATO Codes for Grades of Military Personnel". NATO standardization agreement (5 ed.). NATO Standardization Agency (published 25 February 2010). 13 March 1996. Archived from the original on 1 September 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  7. ^ "United States Navy - O-4 Lieutenant Commander". FederalPay.org. Archived from the original on 8 May 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  8. ^ "MILPERSMAN 5000-010" (PDF). U.S. Navy. 22 Aug 2002. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  9. ^ Debrett's Correct Form: An Inclusive Guide to Everything from Drafting Wedding Invitations to Addressing an Archbishop. (1976). United Kingdom: Debrett's Peerage Limited. pp172
  10. ^ "THE CASE OF COMMANDER CRABB (Hansard, 14 May 1956)".
  11. ^ "Jean Leslie Obituary, The Times". Note how in her interviews she always refers to Montagu as "Commander Montagu"
  12. ^ "Lieutenant Commander mokong Ibana". Archived from the original on 27 May 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  13. ^ "United States Department of Defense". www.defenselink.mil. Archived from the original on 30 December 2004. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  14. ^ Antigua & Barbuda Defence Force. "Paratus" (PDF). Regional Publications Ltd. pp. 12–13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
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  16. ^ "OFFICER RANKS". rbdf.gov.bs. Royal Bahamas Defence Force. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
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  20. ^ "Ranks & Insignia". Join Indian Navy. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
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  22. ^ "BADGES OF RANK". Official Jamaica Defence Force Website. 2019. Archived from the original on 20 August 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  23. ^ "Pakāpju iedalījums". mil.lv/lv (in Latvian). Latvian National Armed Forces. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  24. ^ "Defense Act of 2008" (PDF). 3 September 2008. p. 8. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  25. ^ "Karių laipsnių ženklai" [Marks of soldiers]. kariuomene.kam.lt (in Lithuanian). Ministry of National Defence (Lithuania). Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  26. ^ "Pangkat". mafhq.mil.my (in Malay). Malaysian Armed Forces. Archived from the original on 29 April 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  27. ^ "Government Notice" (PDF). Government Gazette of the Republic of Namibia. Vol. 4547. 20 August 2010. pp. 99–102. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  28. ^ "Badges of Rank". nzdf.mil.nz. New Zealand Defence Force. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  29. ^ Smaldone, Joseph P. (1992). "National Security". In Metz, Helen Chapin (ed.). Nigeria: a country study. Area Handbook (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. pp. 296–297. LCCN 92009026. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  30. ^ "LIFE IN PN:RANKS". www.paknavy.gov.pk. Pakistan Navy Official Website. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
  31. ^ "Sposób noszenia odznak stopni wojskowych na umundurowaniu Marynarki Wojennej" [The way of wearing badges of military ranks on the uniform of the Navy] (PDF). wojsko-polskie.pl (in Polish). Armed Forces Support Inspectorate. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
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  33. ^ "Rank Insignia". navy.mil.za. Department of Defence (South Africa). Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
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