Commodore (USN)
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- Please see "Commodore" for other uses of this rank
Commodore is a rank of the United States Navy with a somewhat complicated history. Congress was unwilling to authorize any admirals in its service until 1862, so considerable importance was attached to the office of commodore. Like its Royal Navy counterpart, the American commodore was not a higher rank, but a temporary assignment for captains. As Herman Melville wrote in White Jacket, 1849,
- An American commodore, like an English commodore or a French chef d'escadre, is but a senior captain, temporarily commanding a small number of ships, detached for any special purpose. He has no permanent rank, recognized by government, above his captaincy; though once employed as a commodore, usage and courtesy unite in continuing the title.
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[edit] History
The practice was not reserved to captains in the earlier days. Captain Isaac Hull, chafing at not being able to progress further in rank, wrote in 1814 that, if no admirals were to be authorized, something should be done to prevent "every midshipman that has command of a gunboat on a separate station taking upon himself the name of Commodore."
Eventually the title of commodore was defined more strictly, and was reserved for captains so designated by the Navy Department, although the practice of retaining the title for life added some confusion. In 1857, Congress established the grade of Flag Officer. This generic title was intended "to promote the efficiency of the Navy," but differed little from the previous practice. Like the courtesy-title commodores, "flag officers" reverted to captain once their squadron command assignment was completed.
[edit] Civil War
Because of the acute need for officers at the beginning of the American Civil War, naval tradition was ignored and commodore became for the first time a permanent commissioned rank. Eighteen were authorized on July 16, 1862. The rank title also lost its "line command" status when, in 1863, the chiefs of the Bureaus of Medicine and Surgery, Provisions and Clothing, Steam Engineering, and Construction and Repair were given the rank of commodore.
[edit] Flag officer
The rank of commodore continued in the Navy until 1899, when the Naval Personnel Act made all commodores into rear admirals. The reason, according to Laws Relating to the Navy, 1919, was "... on account of international relationships, the consideration of which caused the Navy Department to regard the complications confronting it as inimical to the honor and dignity of this nation, because of the adverse effect upon its high ranking representatives in their association with foreign officers." US commodores were not being treated as flag-level officers by other navies, or given the respect the Navy Department thought was their due.
As it would have been expensive to increase the pay of all the former commodores to the level of Rear Admirals, Congress specified that the lower half of the Rear Admiral list have pay equal to Brigadier Generals of the Army. If there were an odd number of Rear Admirals, the lower half of the list was to be the larger. All Rear Admirals, upper or lower half, were equal to major generals, flew a flag instead of a broad pennant, and were entitled to a thirteen gun salute. The Supreme Court held that the rank of Commodore had been removed from the navy, leaving it without a rank equivalent to Brigadier General. This act disgruntled Brigadier Generals, who could now be outranked by officers who were their juniors in terms of service. This was a point of inter-service controversy, and in 1916 the army made its Brigadier Generals equivalent to Rear Admirals (lower half). Thus, Rear Admirals (upper half) were equal to Major Generals, and Brigadier Generals were equal to Rear Admirals (lower half).
[edit] World War II
During the naval expansion during World War II, the Navy Department was concerned that the appointment of more flag officers would create a glut of admirals after the war. However, some captains were holding commands of higher responsibility, and needed to be recognized. Admiral Ernest King proposed bringing back the old rank of commodore for these officers. President Franklin D. Roosevelt agreed, though he specified that this rank be restricted to line officers. The Navy's one-star officer reappeared in April 1943. In practice, staff corps officers could also become commodores. By the end of the war, there were over one hundred commodores in service. Very few of the wartime commodores were promoted to rear admiral. Promotions to commodore ended in 1947, and all had left the navy by 1950.
[edit] 1982 Commodore Admiral
The one star rank appeared again in 1982 with the title of Commodore Admiral. The next year, after numerous protests to the Chief of Naval Operations, Commodore Admiral was changed to simply Commodore. In 1985, Commodore had also begun to appear as a position title for senior Captains who commanded Destroyer Squadrons, Patrol Boat Flotillas, and Naval Aircraft Groups. To prevent confusion between the title of Commodore and the actual rank, the one star Navy admiral rank was changed to Rear Admiral (Lower Half). From that point on, Commodore remained a title and all Navy one star admirals were referred to as Rear Admiral (Lower Half).
[edit] Present day title usage
The Navy no longer maintains a rank of Commodore but the term has survived as a title. Modern-day Commodores are senior Captains in command of Destroyer/Cruiser/Amphibious Squadrons, Coastal Warfare Groups, Submarine Squadrons, and Aircraft Wings. Such officers are referred to, both verbally and in correspondence, as "Commodore," but wear the insignia of a Captain. An officer with the rank of Captain in the United States Navy, who is a passenger aboard a ship but not commanding it, may also be addressed by the title "Commodore" to avoid confusion with the ship's commander who is addressed by the title "Captain."
[edit] Fictional usage
Commodore is often used as a rank in naval-oriented military science fiction. Such officers generally hold duties similar to those of modern-day "commodores".
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| Student Officer | O-1 | O-2 | O-3 | O-4 | O-5 | O-6 | O-7 | O-8 | O-9 | O-10 | O-11 (wartime only) | Special Grade | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States Navy: | MIDN/OC | ENS | LTJG | LT | LCDR | CDR | CAPT | RDML | RADM | VADM | ADM | FADM | Admiral of the Navy |
| United States Marine Corps: | Midn | 2ndLt | 1stLt | Capt | Maj | LtCol | Col | BGen | MajGen | LtGen | Gen | (no equivalent) | (no equivalent) |
| United States Army: | CDT/OC | 2LT | 1LT | CPT | MAJ | LTC | COL | BG | MG | LTG | GEN | General of the Army |
General of the Armies |
| United States Air Force: | Cadet | 2nd Lt | 1st Lt | Capt | Maj | Lt Col | Col | Brig Gen | Maj Gen | Lt Gen | Gen | General of the Air Force |
(no equivalent) |
| United States Coast Guard: | CDT | ENS | LTJG | LT | LCDR | CDR | CAPT | RDML | RADM | VADM | ADM | (no equivalent) | (no equivalent) |
