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38-454: Traditionally, "commodore" is the title for any officer assigned to command more than one ship, even temporarily, much as "captain" is the traditional title for the commanding officer of a single ship even if the officer's official title in the service is a lower rank. As an official rank, a commodore typically commands a flotilla or squadron of ships as part of a larger task force or naval fleet commanded by an admiral . A commodore's ship

76-537: A brigade or regiment . In the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary , a flotilla is the basic organizational unit and consists of members at a local level where the majority of the work of the auxiliary is done. A flotilla is led by an elected flotilla commander assisted by an elected vice flotilla commander, who is in turn assisted by appointed flotilla staff officers. A Coast Guard Auxiliary division consists of multiple flotillas and

114-488: A tactical formation during the Second World War . The need to provide capital ships with the anti-submarine protection of a destroyer screen and air cover from an aircraft carrier led to the increasing use of the carrier battle group , or ad hoc task forces , composed of whichever ships were available for a particular operation. As warships have grown larger, the term squadron has gradually replaced

152-649: A "flotilla holiday", which is a group of chartered yachts that set sail together on the same route. Also outside of a military context, the Center for International Maritime Security , an open-membership Naval Strategy think tank based in the United States , maintains a similar use of the word Flotilla to that of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. In this context, Flotilla refers to a specialized sub-group of individuals within

190-413: A capital ship being a squadron or task force . A flotilla is usually commanded by a rear admiral , a commodore or a captain , depending on the importance of the command (a vice admiral would normally command a squadron). A flotilla is often divided into two or more divisions , each of which might be commanded by the most senior commander , nearly always a lieutenant at the very least. A flotilla

228-491: A district consists of multiple divisions. Auxiliary districts are organized along Coast Guard district lines and are administered by a Coast Guard officer (usually a commander or captain ) who is called the "director of the auxiliary". In the Imperial Russian Navy , Soviet Navy , and Russian Federation Navy , the word flotilla has tended to be used for " brown-water " naval units – those operating not on

266-414: A few country the honorific high position of commodore it is indicated with the high rank denomination of senior captain . Traditionally, commodore is the title of the president of a yacht club. During wartime, a shipping convoy will have a ranking officer—sometimes an active-duty naval officer , at other times a civilian master or retired naval officer—designated as the convoy commodore . This title

304-485: A specific mission such as coastal defense , blockade , or minesweeping . In the United States Navy , the term squadron has always been used for formations of destroyers and submarines. A fleet is usually commanded by a flag officer such as a vice admiral or a rear admiral , but squadrons are sometimes commanded by commodores or simply the most senior captain (often one and the same), depending on

342-635: Is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class of warship, such as frigates , destroyers , torpedo boats , submarines , gunboats , or minesweepers . Groups of larger warships are usually called squadrons , but similar units of non-capital ships may be called squadrons in some instances, and flotillas in others. Formations including more than one capital ship , e.g. men-of-war , battleships , and aircraft carriers , typically alongside smaller ships and support craft, are typically called fleets , each portion led by

380-494: Is not related to the individual ' s military rank (if any), but instead is the title of the senior individual responsible for the overall operation of the merchant ships and naval auxiliary ships that make up the convoy. The convoy commodore does not command the convoy ' escort forces (if any), which are commanded by a naval officer who serves as escort commander. Civilian yacht clubs , yachting associations and fellowships with formal hierarchical structures, began to use

418-431: Is often, but not necessarily, a permanent formation. In modern navies, flotillas have tended to become administrative units containing several squadrons . As warships have grown larger, the term squadron has gradually replaced the term flotilla for formations of destroyers, frigates and submarines in many navies. A naval flotilla has no direct equivalent on land, but is, perhaps, the rough equivalent in tactical value of

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456-627: Is typically designated by the flying of a broad pennant , as compared to an admiral's flag. "Commodore" is typically regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6 , known in the U.S. as " rear admiral (lower half)", but whether it is regarded as a flag rank varies among countries. It is sometimes abbreviated as "Cdre" in British Royal Navy, "CDRE" in the US Navy, "Cmdre" in the Royal Canadian Navy, "COMO" in

494-615: The Argentine Army , and a colonel or group captain in other air forces of the world. The Argentine rank below commodore is the rank of vice-commodore (Spanish vicecomodoro ) equivalent to a lieutenant-colonel in the Argentine Army, and a lieutenant-colonel or wing commander in other air forces. Commodore is a rank in the Royal Netherlands Air Force . It is a one-star rank and has essentially

532-664: The Kazan Operation during the Russian Civil War , and the Danube Flotilla . In the 18th century, the term also applied to the comparatively small fleets operating on those seas where Russia did not have much naval presence yet, e.g. the Okhotsk Flotilla . The word flotilla has also been used at times to refer to a small fleet of vessels, commercial or otherwise. There is also such a thing as

570-636: The Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary —PCGA—each of the directors in command of the ten Coast Guard Auxiliary districts are commodores, as well as most of the Deputy National Directors (some may be rear admirals). Commodore is abbreviated to COMMO in the PCGA. Vanderbilt University 's intercollegiate athletics teams are nicknamed the " Commodores ", a reference to Cornelius Vanderbilt 's self-appointed title (he

608-469: The Royal Navy was divided into three squadrons, the red, the white, and the blue . Each Royal Navy squadron alone was more powerful than most national navies. Today, a squadron might number three to ten vessels, which might be major warships , transport ships , submarines , or small craft in a larger task force or a fleet . A squadron may be composed of one type of ship of various types tasked with

646-646: The Air Force. It is usually—but incorrectly—referred to as "navy commodore", to avoid confusion with the "air force commodore", which is equivalent to the navy's captain and army's colonel. The sleeve lace is identical to that of the Royal Navy, and wears one star on the epaulette. Commodore, in Spanish comodoro , is a rank in the Argentine Air Force . This rank is the equivalent of a colonel in

684-642: The Spanish Navy and in some navies speaking the Spanish language , or "CMDE" as used in the Indian Navy and in navies of several other countries. The rank of commodore derives from the French commandeur , which was the second highest rank in the orders of knighthood , and in military orders the title of the knight in charge of a commandery . The Dutch Navy also used the rank of commandeur from

722-467: The U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard . It was discontinued as a rank in these services during the postwar period, but as an appointment, the title "commodore" was then used to identify senior U.S. Navy captains who commanded squadrons of more than one vessel or functional air wings or air groups that were not part of a carrier air wing or carrier air group. Concurrently, until the early 1980s, U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard captains selected for promotion to

760-465: The broader organization, such as the Center's Warfighting Flotilla. Squadron (naval) A squadron , or naval squadron , is a significant group of warships which is nonetheless considered too small to be designated a fleet . A squadron is typically a part of a fleet. Between different navies there are no clear defining parameters to distinguish a squadron from a fleet (or from a flotilla ), and

798-480: The clubs that are more than a century old, such as the Los Angeles Yacht Club have formal ceremonies, where commodores from more than 100 surrounding yacht clubs, flag officers of the US Navy and Coast Guard attend a ceremony at the beginning of the year. The ceremony includes a bagpipe entrance, a presentation of the country flag by commissioned officers of the country's navy and a cannon shot upon

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836-531: The concept of a unit commodore for the commander of a wing, usually in the rank of colonel (OF-5). Commodore is also a title held by many captains as recognition of exceptional navigation ability and seagoing seniority in the Merchant Service, and by the directors of a few yacht clubs and boating associations. Commodores 'in command' as Master aboard Merchant Marine ships wear distinctive rank and cap insignia denoting their honorific high rank position. In

874-416: The early 1980s. This immediately caused confusion with those senior U.S. Navy captains commanding destroyer squadrons, submarine squadrons, functional air wings and air groups, and so on, who held the temporary "title" of commodore while in their major command billet. As a result of this confusion, the services soon renamed the new one-star rank as commodore admiral (CADM) within the first six months following

912-499: The end of the 16th century for a variety of temporary positions, until it became a conventional permanent rank in 1955. The Royal Netherlands Air Force has adopted the English spelling of "commodore" for an equivalent rank. In the Royal Navy , the position was introduced in the 17th century to combat the cost of appointing more admirals—a costly business with a fleet as large as the Royal Navy's at that time. The rank of commodore

950-450: The highest levels of the organization, similar in nature to active and reserve rear admirals and vice admirals use the term commodore (e.g., district commodore, assistant national commodore, deputy national commodore, national commodore, etc.). These Coast Guard auxiliarists may permanently append the title commodore, sometimes abbreviated COMO, to their names (e.g., Commodore James A. Smith, National Commodore; or COMO Jim Smith, (NACO)). In

988-403: The importance of the command. A large squadron will sometimes be divided into two or more divisions, each of which might be commanded by a subordinate captain. Like a fleet , a squadron is usually, but not necessarily, a permanent formation. There are several types of squadron: In modern navies, squadrons have tended to become administrative units. Most navies began to abandon the squadron as

1026-691: The oceans and real seas, but on inland seas or rivers. Among the former are the present-day Caspian Flotilla , the early-20th-century Satakundskaya Flotilla , or the Aral Flotilla of the 1850s; among the latter, the Don Military Flotilla (which was created several times over more than 200 years), the Dnieper Flotilla (also extant in the 18th and 20th centuries), the Red Volga Flotilla , which participated in

1064-527: The racing season. The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary also employs variants of the title of commodore. Members of the Auxiliary serve in the Coast Guard's uniformed auxiliary service and they do not have military rank, but who do wear modified U.S. Coast Guard uniforms and U.S. military-style officer rank insignia to indicate office. Auxiliary members who have been elected or appointed to positions in

1102-416: The raising of each individual officer's flags on a flag staff, (also known as flagpoles ) for each flag officer (commodore, vice commodore, rear commodore) as their term of office officially begins. Sometimes a trumpet fanfare is also include for special occasions like ribbon cutting in 2019 for the 50th Transpacific Yacht Race . Salutes are given to commodores for special ceremonies, including opening days of

1140-412: The rank of rear admiral (lower half), would wear the same insignia as rear admiral (upper half), i.e., two silver stars for collar insignia or sleeve braid of one wide and one narrow gold stripe, even though they were actually only equivalent to one-star officers and paid at the one-star rate. To correct this inequity, the rank of commodore as a single star flag officer was reinstated by both services in

1178-578: The rank's reintroduction. However, this was considered an awkward title and the one-star flag rank was renamed a few months later to its current title of rear admiral (lower half), later abbreviated by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard as RDML. The "title" of commodore continues to be used in the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard for those senior captains in command of organizations consisting of groups of ships or submarines organized into squadrons ; air wings or air groups of multiple aviation squadrons other than carrier air wings (the latter whose commanders still use

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1216-555: The same rank insignia as the British air commodore . Many air forces use the rank of air commodore . This rank was first used by the Royal Air Force and is now used in many countries such as Australia, Bangladesh, Greece, India, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Thailand and Zimbabwe. It is the equivalent rank to the navy rank of "commodore", and the army ranks of brigadier and brigadier general . The German air force used

1254-516: The senior officer present afloat (SOPA). In the Argentine Navy, the position of commodore was created in the late 1990s, and is usually, but not always, issued to senior captains holding rear-admirals' positions. It is not a rank but a distinction and, as such, can be issued by the chief of staff without congressional approval. Its equivalents are colonel-major in the Army and commodore-major in

1292-400: The size and strength of a naval squadron varies greatly according to the country and time period. Groups of small warships, or small groups of major warships, might instead be designated flotillas by some navies according to their terminology. Since the size of a naval squadron varies greatly, the rank associated with command of a squadron also varies greatly. Before 1864 the entire fleet of

1330-454: The title " CAG "); explosive ordnance disposal ( EOD ), mine warfare and special warfare ( SEAL ) groups; Mobile Inshore Underwater Warfare (MIUW) groups; and construction ( SeaBee ) regiments. Although not flag officers, modern day commodores in the U.S. Navy rate a blue and white command pennant, also known as a broad pennant , that is normally flown at their headquarters facilities ashore or from ships that they are embarked aboard when they are

1368-509: The title "commodore" in countries around the world for their presidents in the early twentieth century 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. Commodores, vice-commodores and rear-commodores are also known as civilian flag officers because they have an epaulettes , regalia and maritime flags with designated symbols and number of stars for their ranks. Many of

1406-455: Was at first a position created as a temporary title to be bestowed upon captains who commanded squadrons of more than one vessel. In many navies, the rank of commodore was merely viewed as a senior captain position, whereas other naval services bestowed upon the rank of commodore the prestige of flag officer status. In 1899, the substantive rank of commodore was discontinued in the United States Navy , but revived during World War II in both

1444-502: Was the master of a large shipping fleet). In the U.S. Sea Scouting program (which is part of the Boy Scouts of America ), all National, Regional, Area, and Council committee chairs are titled as commodore, while senior committee members are addressed as vice commodore. Ship committee chairs do not hold this recognition. Flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish , meaning a small flota ( fleet ) of ships), or naval flotilla ,

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