commodore (komodor)

[Appar. a corruption of Sp. comendador (=Pg. commend a dor ), knight, commander, superior of a monastery, It. com and a tore = F. command eur, OF. comm an deor, > ME. com maund our, E. commander, q. v. F. commodore is from E.] 1. An officer in the navy next in rank below a rear-admiral and above a captain. In the navy of the United States (in which the office was first created in 1862) a commodore ranks with a brigadier-general in the army, and may command a division or a squadron, or be chief of staff of a naval force commanded by an admiral or a vice or rear-admiral; or he may command ships of the first cla , or naval stations. In the British navy the rank of commodore is a temporary one, and of two kinds, of which the first conveys authority over a captain in the same ship, while the second does not. The former gives the rank, pay, and allowances of a rear-admiral; the latter, the pay and allowances of a captain. They both carry distinguishing pennants. Abbreviated Com. 2. By courtesy or by extension - ( a ) The senior captain when three or more ships of war cruising in company reaptains are United States Navy commanding or having commanded squadrons were recognized as commodores by courtesy. (b) The senior captain of a line of merchant ve els. (c) The president of a yachting-club or of an organization of boat-clubs. (d) The convoy or leading ship in a fleet of merchantmen, which carries a light in her top to conduct the other ships.