Commodore (United States)
Commodore | |
---|---|
One-star | |
NATO rank code | OF-6 |
Pay grade | O-7 |
Formation | 1794 |
Abolished | 1985[1] |
Next higher rank | Rear admiral |
Next lower rank | Captain |
Equivalent ranks | Rear admiral (lower half) Brigadier general |
Commodore was an early title and later a
Today, it is no longer a specific rank within
However, "commodore" is a rank that is actively used in the
History
Early days
Use of the term "commodore" dates from 1775 in the then–
The first U.S. naval officer to become a commodore was
Because the
Like its Royal Navy counterpart at the time, the U.S. Navy commodore was not a higher rank, but a temporary assignment for navy officers, as Herman Melville wrote in his 1850 novel, White-Jacket.[2]
An American commodore in the early period, like an English commodore or a French chef d'escadre, was an officer (generally, but not exclusively, a captain) assigned temporary command of more than one ship. He continued his permanent or regular rank during the assignment. Once employed as a commodore, however, many jealously held onto the impressive title after their qualifying assignment ended. The Navy Department tried to discourage such continuing usage because it led to confusion and unnecessary rivalries.
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.
Rank of flag officer
In 1857, Congress established the grade of
The rank of flag officer was short lived because it was replaced by commodore in July 1862.
American 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 in the U.S. Navy. Eighteen commodores 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 all given the rank of commodore.
Disestablishment
The rank of commodore continued in the Navy until March 3, 1899, when "An Act To reorganize and increase the efficiency and the personnel of the Navy and Marine Corps" redefined the list of officers on the active list and did not include the rank of commodore, effectively disestablishing the rank for active line officer, but not on the retirement list.[5][6]
According to Laws Relating to the Navy, 1919, the step was taken, "…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". In short, U.S. Navy commodores were not being treated as flag officers by other navies, or given the respect that 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, the
World War II and the Cold War
During the huge expansion of the U.S. Navy during
As a result, the one-star officer rank for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard was re-established in April 1943 with the title of "commodore". In actual practice, some officers on admiral's staffs were also promoted to the rank of commodore. By the end of the
After World War II, and with the rapid drawdown in size of both the Navy and the Coast Guard, very few of the wartime commodores were ever promoted to rear admiral. All promotions to commodore ceased in 1947, and nearly all of the commodores who had held the one-star rank had either been promoted to rear admiral or had retired from the Navy by 1950. According to the 1949 edition of the Official Register of Commissioned Officers of the United States Navy, updated to January 1, 1949, the last two commodores on active duty were Tully Shelley (b. 1892) and Antoine O. Rabideau (b. 1884).[10] Shelley retired in July 1949 and was promoted on retirement to rear admiral retroactive to April 3, 1945.[11] Rabideau apparently died July 19, 1970, and his headstone shows him to have held the rank of rear admiral.[12] However, as the Cold War evolved, the Navy began to rebound from its immediate post-World War II reductions. This expanding Navy saw growth in several mission areas, and the reintroduction and designation of senior captains in command of units comprising multiple ships (e.g., "flotillas"), multiple aviation squadrons or other similar organizations became increasingly commonplace, leading to increased use of the title of commodore for those senior captains occupying these highly responsible positions.
1982 commodore admiral/1983 rear admiral (lower half)
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, following years of objections and complaints by the
In 1982, the rank of commodore was finally and officially reintroduced in the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard as the O-7 rank. The one-star officer's rank and insignia for Navy and Coast Guard officers was thence re-established with the initial title of commodore admiral.[13][14]
In 1983, following numerous objections by USN officers to the Chief of Naval Operations and USCG officers to the Commandant of the Coast Guard that this new title was unwieldy and confusing, the rank of "commodore admiral" was simplified to "commodore".
However, this action still failed to stem the confusion and the objections of senior officers in the naval services. This was because the U.S. Navy had long assigned the title (although not the rank) of commodore to selected captains holding major operational sea-going commands. Since at least the late 1940s, "commodore" had been used as a "position title" for senior navy captains who commanded air groups and air wings (other than those officers commanding carrier air groups/carrier air wings, who were historically known and referred to as "CAGs"), destroyer squadrons, submarine squadrons, amphibious squadrons, patrol boat flotillas, patrol hydrofoil missile ship squadrons, special warfare groups, construction regiments, and other large seagoing commands. The
Later in 1983, the one-star U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard admiral rank was changed back to its original O-7 pay grade title of "rear admiral" with the discriminator in seniority and protocol purposes of "Rear admiral (lower half)," and a rank title abbreviation of RDML versus the O-8 rank title abbreviation of RADM.
From then on, commodore has remained a title for U.S. Navy captains in command of more than a single unit (other than captains commanding carrier air wings, who retained their traditional title of "CAG") and all U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard one-star admirals were subsequently referred to as rear admiral. The U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard rear admirals (lower half), continued to wear the single star for collar insignia and applicable shoulder insignia (i.e., flight suits, jackets, etc.), a single silver star on top of solid gold background shoulder board insignia, and a single broad gold sleeve stripe insignia for dress blue uniforms (service dress blue, full dress blue and dinner dress blue) of all USN and USCG flag officers in pay grade O-7, and for the service dress white and full dress white uniforms of female USN flag officers in pay grade O-7.[15]
The term "commodore" again reverted to that of an honorary title versus an actual rank for the limited number of captains in command of multiple units.
Present-day title usage
Military
The U.S. Navy no longer maintains a rank of commodore, but the term has survived as an honorary title. Modern-day commodores are senior
With the exception of the naval construction regiments that are commanded by senior captains of the U.S. Navy's
In contrast to the U.S. Air Force (USAF), the U.S. Navy does not use USAF's same wing/group/squadron structure where "groups" are subordinate to "wings." Within the USN component of Naval Aviation, a "group" is considered equal to a wing if commanded by an O-6 and senior to a wing if commanded by an O-7 or O-8 (e.g., carrier strike group, patrol & reconnaissance group). This same model applies
Captains assigned to a commodore billet employ the term "commander" in their organizational command title, this in keeping with the naval tradition of officers commanding a single ship, unit or installation being referred to as a "commanding officer" or "CO", while those captains and flag officers commanding multiple ships, multiple aviation squadrons, multiple air wings, task forces, fleets, etc., being known as a "commander" (but not to be confused with the USN / USCG rank of commander). Captains in this latter category are referred to, both orally and in correspondence, as "commodore", but continue to wear the rank insignia of a captain. [18]
Captains in command of carrier air wings continue to use the traditional title of "
While technically not flag officers, captains holding a commodore billet are authorized a blue and white broad pennant,[20] also known as a "command pennant", which is normally flown from their headquarters facilities ashore and/or from ships on which they are embarked when they are the senior officer present afloat (SOPA). Depending on the type of aircraft, it may also be displayed as a plate or decal when embarked on that aircraft, or painted on one of the aircraft in one of their subordinate squadrons that also displays their name on the fuselage. This swallow-tailed pennant has a white field bounded by two horizontal blue stripes, with the numerical designation or the initials of the command title in blue centered on the white field.[21]
In the U.S. Navy, commodore billets are considered to be O-6 "major command" assignments for Captains, on par with the commanding officers of major combatant vessels (e.g., aircraft carrier, battleship, guided missile cruiser, amphibious assault ship), commanders of carrier air wings, and commanding officers of major shore installations (e.g., naval air station, naval station, naval base, naval support activity, etc.). In the other U.S. armed services, the level and scope of responsibility of a USN Captain in a commodore billet is equivalent to that of the Commanding Officer of a Marine Regiment, Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) or Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) in the U.S. Marine Corps, a wing commander in the U.S. Air Force (even when the USN command is designated as a "Group"), or a brigade commander or O-6 level post commander/installation commander in the U.S. Army.
U.S. Coast Guard
The U.S. Coast Guard presently designates the
Auxiliary components of uniformed services
U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary
In the
The National Commodore wears insignia similar to that of a Coast Guard vice admiral (three stars), the Vice National Commodore and the four Deputy National Commodores wear insignia similar to that of a rear admiral upper half (two stars), and the eight Assistant National Commodores and each District Commodore wear insignia similar to that of a rear admiral lower half (one star). There also several Deputy Assistant National Commodores but these members wear insignia similar to that of a Coast Guard captain and are not addressed as "Commodore."
The Coast Guard Auxiliary also occasionally bestows the title of "Honorary Commodore" as a mark of high esteem. Recipients of this honor include actor and Coast Guard veteran
U.S. Maritime Service
The
Civilian use
Commodore in Yachting Leadership
Civilian yacht clubs, yachting associations and fellowships[23] with formal hierarchical structures, began to use the title "commodore" in countries around the world [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] for their presidents in the early twentieth century [32] along with "vice commodore" in the same manner as "vice president,"and "rear-commodore" and "port captain' or "international bridge member" in the same manner as board members.[33]
Commodores, Vice-Commodores and Rear-Commodores are also known as civilian
Popular use
Commodore as mascot or nickname
The athletic teams of Vanderbilt University of the Southeastern Conference use "Commodore" as their mascot, the nickname of the university's founder and namesake Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, Florida, also uses the Commodore mascot for its sports teams.
Commodore as a title of recognition by State of Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island has a group of select individuals, appointed by the governor, known as Rhode Island Commodores. Rhode Island Commodores function as ambassadors for the state and promote its economy and attractions. It is similar to the title Kentucky Colonel but less commonly awarded.
See also
- Air commodore
- Commodore (rank)
- Commodore-in-Chief
- Commodore admiral
- Rear admiral (lower half)
- Fleet captain
- Senior captain
References
Footnotes
- ^ 10 U.S.C. 5501 Notes
- ^ ISBN 1-55750-330-3, pp. 261, 266–267, 289–290
- ^ https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage
- ^ "Naval traditions: Names of ranks". Archived from the original on 2000-08-23.
- ^ "About this Collection | United States Statutes at Large | Digital Collections | Library of Congress" (PDF). Library of Congress.
- ISBN 1-55750-330-3.
- ^ "FindLaw's United States Supreme Court case and opinions". Findlaw. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ Supreme Court of the United States, October Term, 1902; No. 562; William C. Gibson vs. U.S.; Judd & Detweiler, Printers, Washington, D.C.; Jan. 23, 1903,
- ISBN 1-55750-330-3.
- ^ Official Register of Commissioned Officers of the United States Navy. 1949. pg. 12.
- ^ Official Register of Commissioned Officers of the United States Navy. 1950. pg. 403.
- ^ ancestors.familysearch.org, https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/MXWP-D33/antoine-oliver-rabideau-1885-1970
- ^ "10 U.S. Code § 611 - Convening of selection boards". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ "10 U.S. Code § 5150 - Staff corps of the Navy". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ "Uniform Regulations". www.public.navy.mil. Archived from the original on 15 April 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ "Training Air Wing Six | Leadership".
- ^ Atlantic, This story was written by Journalist 3rd Class John Michael Cokos, Fleet Public Affairs Center. "AEW 12/AEWWINGLANT Commodores Mark Wing Disestablishment". navy.mil. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Navy.mil The Official Website of the United States Navy: Home Page". www.navy.mil. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ "Naval traditions: Names of ranks". Archived from the original on 2000-08-23.
- ^ Broad pennant
- ^ "Command Pennants". Archived from the original on 2012-09-12. Retrieved 2013-08-28.
- ^ "USCGAux Insignia of Office: Flotilla, Division, District and National Offices". United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Division. 7 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
- ^ "International Bridge of IYFR". International Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians. IYFR. Retrieved 23 Nov 2020.
- ^ Royal Malta Yacht Club
- ^ Royal Thames Yacht Club
- ^ Royal Cork Yacht Club
- ^ New York Yacht Club
- ^ Golden Gate Yacht Club
- ^ Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club
- ^ Royal Natal Yacht Club
- ^ List of yacht clubs
- ^ Publication, Official (1 April 2020). Yachting Yearbook 2020 (99th ed.). Pacific Inter-Club Yachting Association. pp. 1–416.
- ^ "Council". Marblehead, Mass.: Eastern Yacht Club. 2013. Archived from the original on 6 June 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
Sources
- Oliver, Raymond. "Why is the Colonel Called 'Kernal'? The Origin of the Ranks and Rank Insignia Now Used by the United States Armed Forces: Officer: Commodore". Frequently Asked Questions: Navy Traditions and Customs. Naval History & Heritage Command. Archived from the originalon 13 November 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2017.