, abbreviated Kmd (, official Captain) is the senior-most commissioned officer rank below that of
flag officer
A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command.
The term is used differently in different countries:
*In many countr ...
(i.e.,
admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
s) in the
Swedish Navy
The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps ().
In Swedish, vessels o ...
, ranking below
rear admiral (lower half)
A rear admiral in the uniformed services of the United States is either of two different ranks of commissioned officers: one-star flag officers and two-star flag officers. By contrast, in most other countries, the term "rear admiral" refers only t ...
and above
commander
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain.
...
. The rank is equivalent to
colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military 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 colonel was typically in charge of ...
in the
Swedish Army
The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces.
History
Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gustav Vas ...
,
Swedish Air Force
The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces.
History
The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...
and the
Swedish Amphibious Corps.
History
A captain used to serve
as commander of
ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...
s.
In 1729, there were thirteen captains admitted to the Admiralty of Sweden (''Amiralitetskollegium''). Captain in the navy was changed in 1771 to
colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military 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 colonel was typically in charge of ...
. During the 1824 regulation, the rank of colonel was changed to a new rank with the name
commander of the 1st class (''kommendörkapten av 1:a klassen''), but in 1845 the rank of captain was reintroduced.
During the first half of the 20th century, the captain served on board as squadron commander, division commander (
coastal defence ship
Coastal defence ships (sometimes called coastal battleships or coast defence ships) were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrifi ...
division) and as
flag captain
In the Royal Navy, a flag captain was the captain of an admiral's flagship. During the 18th and 19th centuries, this ship might also have a "captain of the fleet", who would be ranked between the admiral and the "flag captain" as the ship's "First ...
, ashore as station commander or shipyard commander, head of the
Royal Swedish Naval Materiel Administration
The Royal Swedish Naval Materiel Administration ( sv, Kungliga Marinförvaltningen, KMF) was the central board of the Swedish Navy in technical and economic terms. It was active between the years 1878 and 1968 when it was disbanded and amalgamated ...
, department head there and in the
Naval Staff, corps commander, etc. There were eight captains in the Swedish Navy in 1911.
Previously, captain was a rank between rear admiral and commander of the 1st class (''kommendörkapten av 1:a graden''),
then between ''
kommendör av 1. graden
''Kommendör av 1. graden'' was a senior captain rank of the Swedish Navy, ranking below Rear admiral (Sweden), rear admiral (1972–2000) and Flottiljamiral, rear admiral (lower half) (since 2000), and above Kommendör, captain.
History
In 1972 ...
'' (
senior captain
Senior captain is a rank which is used in some countries' armed forces, navies, merchant marines, civil aviation and in the airline industry.
Army
In some armies of the world, the senior captain is a rank between a regular captain and a majo ...
) and commander (''kommendörkapten''), but today it is a rank between
rear admiral (lower half)
A rear admiral in the uniformed services of the United States is either of two different ranks of commissioned officers: one-star flag officers and two-star flag officers. By contrast, in most other countries, the term "rear admiral" refers only t ...
and commander.
Promotion
Responsible head of promotion for a captin is the Director of Human Resource at the
Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters.
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 polic ...
is shaped like a "loop" for an officer in the
Swedish Navy
The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps ().
In Swedish, vessels o ...
(the loop is shaped like a "grenade" for an officer in the
Swedish Amphibious Corps). 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.
1. The shoulder mark (''Axelklaffshylsa m/02B'') is designed as galloons sewn directly to another shoulder mark (''axelklaffshylsa m/87 blå'').
2. Before 2003, captains wore three 8 mm gold galloons and a loop of 16 mm gold galloons m/51.
3. The
wowen shoulder mark (''AXELKLAFFSHYLSA M/02 INVÄVD KOMMENDÖR FLOTTAN'') is worn on the naval combat dress (''sjöstridsdräkt m/93''), duty uniform (''arbetsdräkt m/87 (blå)'') and
combat uniform
A combat uniform, also called field uniform, battledress or military fatigues, is a casual type of uniform used by military, police, fire and other public uniformed services for everyday fieldwork and combat duty purposes, as opposed to dress ...
(''Fältuniform m/90 lätt'', ''m/90 lätt blå'', ''m/90 tropik'' (green, beige and blue)).
File:OF-5 Kommendör FL hylsa.jpg, 1. Embroidered shoulder mark
A shoulder mark, also called 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 ''shoulder board'' (which is an elaborate sh ...
(2003–present)
File:OF-5 Kommendör 1987-2000 FL hylsa.jpg, 2. Embroidered shoulder mark
A shoulder mark, also called 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 ''shoulder board'' (which is an elaborate sh ...
(–2003)
File:OF-5 Kommendör FL hylsa02.jpg, 3. Wowen shoulder mark
A shoulder mark, also called 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 ''shoulder board'' (which is an elaborate sh ...
(2003–present)
Sleeve insignia
Rank insignia is worn on both sleeves for inner
suit jacket
A suit jacket, also called a lounge jacket, lounge coat or suit coat, is a jacket in classic menswear that is part of a suit.
Single and double-breasted
Most single-breasted suit jackets have two or three buttons, and one or four buttons are un ...
(''innerkavaj m/48'') and mess jacket (''mässjacka m/1878'').
1. On the sleeve an 11 mm
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 polic ...
m/51 with Chevron (insignia), chevron and three 11 mm galloons m/51. Galloon 12.6 mm rank insignia (''gradbeteckning m/02'') (navy or amphibious corps). 12.6 mm galloon m/02 gradually replaces 11 mm galloon 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. This sleeve insignia was worn by a commander (''kommendörkapten'') until 2003.
2. Before 2003, captains wore three 11 mm gold galloons and a loop of 23 mm gold galloon m/51.
Hats
Peaked cap
A captain wears as embellishments (known as Scrambled egg (uniform), scrambled egg) a gold embroidered laurel wreath (''skärmbroderi m/49'') on the visor of the peaked cap (''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 (''mössträns m/42'').
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 captain wears a large aiguillette (''stor ägiljett m/1816'') to mess dress, service dress uniform in connection with representation (equivalent), and to full dress uniforms. 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 aiguillette is attached to two small buttons under the coat.
File:Royal_Wedding_Stockholm_2010-Konserthuset-413.jpg, Large aiguillette (''Stor ägiljett m/1816'') on mess uniform
Epaulette
A captain wears epaulette's (''epålett m/1878'') to white tie (''frack m/1878'') and to coat (''rock m/1878''). On the epaulette, a captain wears 7 mm and 4 mm (within) Fringe (trim), fringe in two rows.
Personal flags
The command flag of a captain (and for a Kommendör av 1. graden, senior captain,
colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military 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 colonel was typically in charge of ...
and Överste av 1. graden, senior colonel), is the so-called ''Örlogsstandert'' ("Navy Standard"), which is a triangular swallowtailed flag per fess blue and yellow.
The Navy Standard is carried on Swedish Navy ships, from which the captain exercises his command, or on which he travels in the service, but with the same restriction as for the admiral, etc.
The command flag received its current appearance in 1927.
Gun salute
When raising or lowering flags of the commander's, squadron, department or division commander, a gun salute is given with 11 rounds for captain (17 for admiral, 15 for vice admiral and 13 for rear admiral).
References
Notes
Print
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Web
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kommendör
Swedish Navy captains,
Military ranks of the Swedish Navy
sv:Kommendör