Brigadier des armées navales was a naval rank in the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

during the

ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

. The rank was created by an edict on 25 March 1765, renamed Chef de Division on 1 January 1786. It was senior to Capitaine de vaisseau, and junior to

Chef d'escadre ''Chef d'escadre'' (; literally " squadron commander") was a rank in the French Navy during the Ancien Régime and until the French Revolution. The rank was changed to '' contre-amiral'' by a law passed on 15 May 1791. History The first chef ...

History

The rank of Brigadier des armées navales was introduced on 25 March 1765, and automatically bestowed upon the 50 most senior Captains in the Navy. It was the most senior rank in the Navy below general officers, similar to a

Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

in the Army. On 1 January 1786, Navy Minister Castries renamed the rank to "Chef de Division" and limited their number to 27.

Sources and references

Notes Citations References * {{cite book, last=Vergé-Franceschi, first=Michel, authorlink=Michel Vergé-Franceschi, year=2002 , title=Dictionnaire d'Histoire maritime , publisher=Robert Laffont , location=Paris, isbn=2-221-08751-8 Military ranks of France Navy of the Ancien Régime Naval ranks