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

Commodore insignia

Rank pennant

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. http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/upload/package/66/brd81book/ch03.pdf

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 row of gold lace below a gold lace curl with a diameter of 2 inches. 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 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. Commodore has only been a substantive rank in the Royal Navy since 1997. Before then it continued to be an appointment conferred on senior captains holding certain positions.^[1]

Footnotes

See also

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

References

de:Kommodore fr:Commodore (grade) ja: ( ) vi:Ph c