Editing Commodore (rank) (section)

==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.

In the [[Royal Navy]], [[commodore (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 was at first a position created as a temporary title to be bestowed upon captains who commanded [[Squadron (naval)|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.

=== United States ===
{{Main|Commodore (United States)}}
In 1899, the substantive rank of commodore was discontinued in the [[United States Navy]], but revived during World War II in both the [[United States Navy]] and [[United States 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 [[captain (U.S. Navy)|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 the rank of [[Rear admiral (United States)|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 [[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, giving it its current title of rear admiral (lower half), later abbreviated by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard as RDML. The [[United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps]], and [[NOAA Commissioned Corps]], whose rank structures follow the naval pattern, also use this title and abbreviation.

The "title" of commodore continues to be used in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard for those senior captains in command of organizations consisting of groups of ships or submarines organized into [[Squadron (naval)|squadrons]]; air wings or air groups of multiple [[Squadron (aviation)|aviation squadrons]] other than carrier air wings (the latter whose commanders still use the title "[[Commander, Air Group|CAG]]"); explosive ordnance disposal ([[Explosive Ordnance Disposal|EOD]]), mine warfare and special warfare ([[United States Navy SEALs|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 the [[Senior Officer Present Afloat|Senior Officer Present Afloat (SOPA)]].

===Argentina===
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 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.{{cn|date=December 2022}}