Commodore ( rank ) Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain , but below a rear admiral . Non - English - speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent , although the latter may also correspond to rear admiral . Traditionally , " commodore " is the title for any officer assigned to command more than one ship at a time , 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 . It is often regarded as a one - star rank with a NATO code of OF - 6 ( which is known in the U . S . as " rear admiral ( lower half ) " ) , but whether it is regarded as a flag rank varies between countries . It is sometimes abbreviated as " Cdre " , " CDRE " or " COMO " . Etymology . The rank of commodore derives from the French " commandeur " , which was one of the highest ranks in orders of knight hood , and in military orders the title of the knight in charge of a " commenda " ( a local part of the order ' s territorial possessions ) . History . The Dutch Navy also used the rank of " commandeur " from 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 . The rank of commodore 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 ; commodore is the highest rank in the Irish Naval Service , for example , and is held by only one person . In the Royal Navy , the position was introduced to combat the cost of appointing more admirals — a costly business with a fleet as large as the Royal Navy ' s at that time . United States . In 1899 the substantive rank of commodore was discontinued in the United States Navy , but revived during World War II . 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 captain s 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 air group . Concurrently , until the early 1980s , U . S . Navy and U . S . Coast Guard captains selected for promotion to 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 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 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 the title " CAG " ) ; explosive ordnance disposal ( EOD ) , mine warfare and special warfare ( SEAL ) groups ; and construction battalion ( SeaBee ) regiments . Although not flag officers , modern day commodores in the U . S . Navy rate a blue and white command pennant that is normally flown at their headquarters facilities ashore or from ships that they are embarked aboard when they are the senior officer afloat . Argentina . In the Argentine Navy , the rank of commodore was created in the late 1990s , and is usually , but not always , issued to senior captains holding rear - admirals ' positions . Its equivalent in the army is colonel - major , and has no equivalent in 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 shoulder strap . Naval rank . The following articles deal with the rank of commodore ( or its equivalent ) as it is employed in various countries . Air force ranks . Commodore , in Spanish " comodoro " , is a rank in the Argentine Air Force . This rank is the equivalent of a colonel in 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 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 the concept of a unit commodore , although this was a unit command appointment rather than a rank . Merchant and boating rank . Commodore is also a title held by the senior captain within a shipping company and by the senior officer of many yacht clubs and boating associations . Convoy commodore . 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 is not related to the individuals 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 ship s 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 . Other uses . In the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary , the senior elected officer of the organization is the National Commodore , also there are commodores elected for the individual district commands of the Coast Guard Auxiliary . They hold the title of District Commodore . There are also appointed commodores who are the senior office holder for the areas within the organizational directorate . In 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 appreviated 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 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 .