''Kommendör av 1. graden'' was a senior captain rank of the

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy () is the maritime service branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet (), formally sometimes referred to as the Royal Navy () – as well as marine units, the Amph ...

, ranking below

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

(1972–2000) and

rear admiral (lower half) A rear admiral in four of the uniformed services of the United States is one of two distinct ranks of commissioned officers; "rear admiral (lower half)," a one-star flag officer, and "rear admiral" (sometimes referred to as "rear admiral (upper ha ...

(since 2000), and above

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

History

In 1972, the so-called employment reform (''tjänstställningsreformen'') was implemented. In connection with the

Swedish Armed Forces The Swedish Armed Forces (, literally ''Defence Force'') are the Military, armed forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. It consists of four separate military branches, the Swedish Army, the Swedish Navy, the Swedish Air Force and the Home Guard (Swed ...

' increasing involvement in international operations with UN battalions and observers, it became increasingly clear that the Swedish service system did not quite correspond to what was common in other countries. A Swedish

had basically the same training and service as a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in other countries' defense forces. In many cases, a Swedish

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

had tasks that in other armed forces were performed by brigadier generals. During the 1960s, this was solved many times by the Swedish officers being given a higher rank during their service abroad. The Supreme Commander suggested to the Swedish government that the Swedish service system should be changed, so that the captains would receive the rank of major and the majors would receive the rank of lieutenant colonel. He further proposed that a new general, brigadier general, be introduced. The government approved the Supreme Commander's proposal regarding captains and majors. No new general rank was introduced. The motivation for the government not following the Supreme Commander's proposal in this respect was that it did not want to contribute to an increase in the number of generals and admirals in the Swedish Armed Forces. However, the government decided to introduce the rank of ''kommendör av 1. graden'' ( senior captain) for the navy and ''

överste av 1. graden ''Överste av 1. graden'' was a senior colonel rank of the Swedish Army, Swedish Air Force and Swedish Amphibious Corps, ranking below major general (1972–2000) and brigadier general (since 2000), and above colonel. History In 1972, the so ...

'' (

senior colonel __NOTOC__ Senior colonel is an officer rank usually placed between a regular colonel and a British brigadier or American brigadier general. Use Most western militaries tend to equate a senior colonel as being on the level of a "brigadier general ...

) for the army. The reform was implemented on 1 July 1972. During the 1990s, the Swedish government raised the issue of introducing a rank for professional officers called brigadier general and

, respectively, and stated there, among other things, the following. For a few years, the Swedish Armed Forces had in various ways announced that they wished to change the current rank level system for professional officers. The idea was that the rank of ''överste 1. graden'' (

) and ''kommendör av 1. graden'' ( senior captain) would be abolished and instead replaced with the rank of brigadier general and rear admiral (lower half). The reason for this was stated to be that then almost only Sweden did not have this rank. The increased international cooperation was thus considered to have been made more difficult.

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

had recently introduced the brigadier general's rank. The government stated in the same bill that the issue should be prepared further before a position was taken on the proposal. In 1999, the government stated that the said rank should now be introduced and intended to make changes to the bill (1994:642) with instructions for the Swedish Armed Forces and the Officers Ordinance (1994:882) with effect from 1 July 2000. The rear admiral (lower half) rank was finally introduced in 2000 and replaced the old rank of ''kommendör av 1. graden''. Anyone who, according to older regulations, held the rank of ''kommendör av 1. graden'' would continue to hold that rank until otherwise decided. Thus, the rank of ''kommendör av 1. graden'' was placed between the rank of rear admiral (lower half) and the rank of

Uniform

Shoulder mark

The top

galloon Galloon (sometimes spelled galon in British English) is a heavily-decorated woven or braided trim, typically made of, or featuring, gold or silver thread, which may be woven or embroidered. Galloon trim is used in the trim of military and poli ...

is shaped like a "loop" for an officer in the

(the loop is shaped like a "grenade" for an officer in the

Swedish Amphibious Corps The Amphibious Corps (, Amf) is the Marines, marine infantry arm of the Swedish Navy, with an emphasis on coastal defence. It has its roots in the Swedish Coastal Artillery, coastal artillery (, KA) but after the end of the Cold War it was seen as ...

). The rank insignia is worn on the shoulder mark to jacket and coat (''jacka m/87'', ''kappa m/87''), as well as to blue wool sweater (''blå ylletröja m/87''), trench coat (''trenchcoat m/84''), sea coat (''sjörock 93'', black raincoat and to white shirt (''vit skjorta m/78''). Rank insignia on shoulder mark (''axelklaffshylsa 02B'') is worn on all garments with shoulder straps. The shoulder mark consists of a 16 mm star m/30 in gold embroidery, 16 mm galloon m/51 and 8 mm galloon m/51. File:OF-5+ Kommendör 1gr FL hylsa.jpg, Embroidered

shoulder mark A shoulder mark, also called a rank slide or slip-on, is a flat cloth sleeve worn on the shoulder strap of a uniform. It may bear rank or other insignia. A shoulder mark should not be confused with a (an elaborate shoulder strap), a (a brai ...

Sleeve insignia

Rank insignia is worn on both sleeves for inner

suit jacket A suit jacket, also called a lounge jacket, dress jacket, lounge coat or suit coat, is a jacket in classic menswear that is part of a suit. History The jacket was originally a work jacket that came into fashion due to the French Revolution. It ...

(''innerkavaj m/48'') and

mess jacket The mess jacket is a type of formal jacket that ends at the waist. It features either a non-fastening double breast cut or a single-breasted version that fastens.

(''mässjacka m/1878''). The sleeve insignia consists of a 24 mm star m/30 in gold embroidery, one 23 mm

m/51 and three 11 mm galloons m/51. The distance between galloons should be 6 mm. The distance from the bottom edge of the sleeve to the bottom edge of the top galloon should be 100 mm. File:OF-5+ Kommendör 1gr FL arm.jpg, Sleeve insignia

Hats

Peaked cap

A senior captain wears as embellishments (known as scrambled egg) a gold embroidered

laurel wreath A laurel wreath is a symbol of triumph, a wreath (attire), wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel (), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. It was also later made from spineless butcher's broom (''Ruscus hypoglossum'') or cher ...

(''skärmbroderi m/49'') on the visor of the

peaked cap A peaked cap, peaked hat, service cap, barracks cover, or combination cap is a form of headgear worn by the armed forces of many nations, as well as many uniformed civilian organisations such as law enforcement agencies and fire departments. It d ...

(''skärmmössa m/48''). It also fitted with a hat badge (''mössmärke m/78 off för flottan'') and with a strap in form of a golden

braid A braid (also referred to as a plait; ) is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing three or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-strand ...

(''mössträns m/42''). File:Kommendör Harry Bong Fo156421.jpg, Peaked cap worn by Harry Bong. File:Mössmärke m78 FL Officer.png, Hat badge

Side cap and winter hat

An officer wears a hat badge (''mössmärke m/78 off'') for the navy and another (''mössmärke m/87 off'') for amphibious units on the side cap (''båtmössa m/48'') and on the winter hat (''vintermössa m/87'').

Aiguillette

A senior captain wears a large

aiguillette An aiguillette (, from '' aiguille'', "needle"), also spelled , or , is a cord with metal tips or lace tags, or the decorative tip itself. Functional or purely decorative fasteners of silk cord with metal tips were popular in the 16th and e ...

(''stor ägiljett m/1816'') to

mess dress Mess dress uniform is the most formal (or semi-formal wear, semi-formal, depending on the country) type of evening-wear uniform used by military personnel, Police officer, police personnel, and other uniformed services members. It frequently ...

service dress uniform Service dress uniform is the informal type of uniform used by military, police, fire and other public uniformed services for everyday office, barracks and non-field duty purposes and sometimes for ceremonial occasions. It frequently consists of a ...

in connection with representation (equivalent), and to

full dress uniform Full dress uniform, also known as a ceremonial dress uniform or parade dress uniform, is among the most formal wear, formal type of uniform used by military, police, firefighter, fire and other public uniformed services for official parade (mili ...

s. For uniform parts without a shoulder strap (''axelklaff''), a shoulder girdle is used in the navy (if applicable with a royal name cipher) to attach a large aiguillette to the shoulder next to the shoulder seam. For the inner jacket (''innerkavaj m/48'') and the

mess jacket The mess jacket is a type of formal jacket that ends at the waist. It features either a non-fastening double breast cut or a single-breasted version that fastens.

, the aiguillette is attached to two small buttons under the coat. File:Royal_Wedding_Stockholm_2010-Konserthuset-413.jpg, Large

(''Stor ägiljett m/1816'') on mess uniform

Epaulette

A senior captain wears

epaulette Epaulette (; also spelled epaulet) is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of rank by armed forces and other organizations. Flexible metal epaulettes (usually made from brass) are referred to as ''shoulder scale ...

's (''epålett m/1878'') to

white tie White tie, also called full evening dress or a dress suit, is the most formal evening Western dress code. For men, it consists of a black tail coat (alternatively referred to as a dress coat, usually by tailors) worn over a white dress shir ...

(''frack m/1878'') and to coat (''rock m/1878''). On the epaulette, a senior captain wears 7 mm and 4 mm (within)

fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts and music * "The Fringe", or Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * Purple fri ...

in two rows.

Footnotes

References

Notes

Print

* * *{{cite book , url=http://www.tjelvar.se/pdf/unir_2003.pdf , title=Uniformsreglemente för Försvarsmakten: UniR FM , edition=2003 , year=2003 , publisher=Försvarsmakten , location=Stockholm , language=sv , id={{SELIBR, 9043529 , ref={{harvid, ''Uniformsreglemente'', 2003 Military ranks of the Swedish Navy