Lieutenant commander

Lieutenant Commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr., LCDR, or LCdr) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank in most armies and air forces is major, and in the Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces is squadron leader. It is roughly equivalent to the Corvette Captain rank in central European countries and the Captain 3rd rank rank in eastern European/CIS countries.

The NATO rank code is mostly OF-3.

A Lieutenant Commander is a department officer or the executive officer (second-in-command) on many warships and smaller shore installations, or the commanding officer of a smaller ship/installation. They are also department officers in naval aviation squadrons.

Protocol

In the British Armed Forces , United States Navy and Commonwealth Militaries, officers are addressed by their full rank if their full name is being used, or the higher grade of the rank if the officer is being addressed or referred to in shorthand. Therefore, just as Lieutenant Colonel Susan White would be “Colonel White”, or Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson is “Admiral Nelson”, so Lieutenant Commander John Smith is addressed as "Commander" or "Commander Smith", and referred to as "Commander Smith".

Famous examples of this are:

- Lieutenant Commander Lionel Crabb Royal Navy who in conversation, biopics, Admiralty correspondence and even statements in Parliament by the Prime Minister is almost invariably referred to as “Commander Crabb”.

- Acting Temporary Lieutenant Commander Ewen Montagu RNVR, who is routinely referred to as "Commander Montagu" in historical and contemporary records, and in interviews by his colleagues on Operation Mincemeat.

Origins

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", "lieutenant and commander", or "senior lieutenant" in the Royal Navy. The USN settled on "lieutenant commander" in 1862 and made it a distinct rank. The RN followed suit in March 1914.

Canada

In the Royal Canadian Navy, the rank of lieutenant-commander (LCdr)

Gallery

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Antigua and Barbuda Coast Guard)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Royal Australian Navy)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Royal Bahamas Defence Force)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Bangladesh Navy)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Barbados Coast Guard)

File:Belize Coast Guard OF-3.svg|Lieutenant commander (Belize Coast Guard)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg| (Royal Brunei Navy)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant-commander (Royal Canadian Navy)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg| (Royal Danish Navy)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg| (Ethiopian Navy)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Republic of Fiji Navy)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Gambian Navy)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Ghana Navy)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Guyanese Coast Guard)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Indian Navy)

File:Generic-Navy-(star)-O4.svg|Lieutenant commander (Irish Naval Service)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Jamaican Coast Guard)

File:Generic-Navy-6.svg| (Latvian Naval Forces)

File:Generic-Navy-(star)-O4.svg|Lieutenant commander (Liberian National Coast Guard)

File:Generic-Navy-6.svg| (Lithuanian Naval Force)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg| (Royal Malaysian Navy)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Namibian Navy)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Royal New Zealand Navy)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Nigerian Navy)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Pakistan Navy)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Papua New Guinea Maritime Element)

File:Generic-Navy-11.svg| (Polish Navy)

File:Romania-Navy-OF-3-Sleeve.svg| (Romanian Naval Forces)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Saint Kitts and Nevis Coast Guard)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Sierra Leone Navy)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (South African Navy)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Sri Lanka Navy)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Tanzania Naval Command)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Tongan Maritime Force)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard)

File:Generic-Navy-5.svg|Lieutenant commander (Royal Navy)

File:U.S. Navy O-4 insignia.svg|Lieutenant commander (United States Navy)

File:USCG O-4 insignia.svg|Lieutenant commander (United States Coast Guard)