Lieutenant Commander
From Free net encyclopedia
Lieutenant Commander (Lieutenant-Commander in British English) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies superior to a Lieutenant and subordinate to a Commander. The corresponding rank in most armies, marine corps and air forces is Major, and in the Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces is Squadron Leader.
A Lieutenant Commander is a senior department officer on a large ship or shore installation. They may also be commanding officer or executive officer (second-in-command) of a smaller ship or installation.
Contents |
Origins
Unlike similarly-named military ranks (e.g. Lieutenant Colonel, Lieutenant General), the "lieutenant" in the title does not indicate a deputy or junior grade of Commander, but a senior grade of Lieutenant. Lieutenants were commonly put in command of smaller vessels not warranting a Commander or Captain: such a Lieutenant was called a "Lieutenant Commanding" or "Lieutenant Commandant" in the United States Navy, and a "Lieutenant in Command" or "Lieutenant and Commander" in the Royal Navy. The USN settled on "Lieutenant Commander" in 1862, and made it a distinct rank; the RN belatedly followed suit in March 1914.
Royal Navy
The insignia worn by a Royal Navy Lieutenant-Commander (Lt Cdr) is two medium gold braid stripes with one thin gold stripe running in between, placed upon a navy blue/black background. The top stripe has the ubiquitous loop used in all RN officer rank insignia. The RAF follows this pattern with its equivalent rank of Squadron Leader.
Having fewer officer ranks than the army, the RN previously split some of its ranks by seniority (time in rank) to provide equivalence: hence a Lieutenant with fewer than eight years' seniority wore two stripes, and ranked with an army Captain; a Lieutenant of eight years or more wore two stripes with a thinner one in between, and ranked with a Major. This distinction was abolished when the rank of Lieutenant-Commander was introduced, the new rank taking the insignia and army equivalence of a senior Lieutenant.
Similar insignia is worn by Lieutenant-Commanders in other Commonwealth navies, such as the Royal Australian Navy (which uses the abbreviation "LCDR"), the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Canadian Forces Maritime Command (formerly the Royal Canadian Navy; which uses the abbreviation "LCdr"). Template:UK officer ranks
United States Navy and Coast Guard
Image:Lieutenant Commander insignia.gif The rank of Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) is used in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard. The pay grade of this rank is O-4.
While the gold oak leaf collar insignia worn by United States Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps Majors are also worn by USN Lieutenant Commanders, they also wear on various uniforms the two medium and one narrow sleeve and shoulder braid stripe insignia like their counterparts in the Royal Navy, though with a specialty insignia instead of a loop. In this illustration, the inverted star of a line officer is used. Template:US officer ranks
See also
References
Template:Unreferencedde:Lieutenant Commander fr:Capitaine de corvette