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COMMODORE (a form of " commander"; in the 17th century the term " commandore " is used)
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COMMODORE (a form of " commander"; in the 17th century the term " commandore " is used), a temporary rank in the British navy for an officer in command of a squadron. There are two kinds, one with and the other without a captain below him in his ship, the first holding the temporary rank, pay, &c., of a rear-admiral, the other that of captain. It is also given as a courtesy title to the senior officer of a squadron of more than three vessels. In the United States navy " commodore " was a courtesy title given to captains who had been in command of a squadron. In 1862 it was made a commissioned rank, but was abolished in 1899. The name is given to the president of a yacht club, as of the Royal Yacht Squadron, and to the senior captain of a fleet of merchant vessels.