Lieutenant commander

Lieutenant commander is a military rank used in Federation Starfleet, superior to lieutenant and subordinate to commander. A lieutenant commander may be a senior officer in a department on a large vessel or starbase, or may be commanding officer or first officer of a smaller vessel.

A lieutenant commander is normally addressed as commander except in ceremonial contexts or printed orders.

The rank is equivalent to the Marines rank of major, subcommander in the Federation Starfighter Corps (Star Trek: Remington), the Cardassian rank of glinn (excepting the Star Trek: Sigils and Unions continuity, where glinn is often equated with the rank of commander), and the Romulan rank of centurion.

History

The term comes from the navies of the 20th century. The USN abbreviation was LCDR.

Unlike other ranks such as lieutenant colonel or lieutenant general, a lieutenant commander is not a lesser version of commander, but rather is a more senior grade of lieutenant (other navies, such as those used in Germany and Russia, use the term 'captain lieutenant'). The rank was originally created because some lieutenants were being given command of smaller vessels in the United States Navy (where these officers were called 'lieutenant commanding' or 'lieutenant commandant') and the British Royal Navy (there referred to as 'lieutenant in command' or 'lieutenant and commander'); the US Navy adopted the resulting new rank of lieutenant commander in 1862, and the Royal Navy followed suit in 1914.

Starfleet insignia

22nd century	2230s

2240s-2250s	2250s	2265-2270s	Early 2270s (Shoulders/Sleeves)	Late 2270s-2350s (Shoulders/Sleeves)

2350s-2360s	2360s-2370s service uniform	2360s-2370s duty uniform	2373-2380s

Early 2380s	Mid 2380s	2390s
File:LCDR (early 2380s).png File:Red (early 2380s).png	File:LCDR (mid 2380s).png File:Red (mid 2380s).png	File:LCDR (2390s).png File:Red (2390s).png

Alternate realities

2250s	2380s-2400s	2390s	29th century

Other insignia

Klingon navy	Lyran Starfleet

Starfleet lieutenant commanders

• See Category:Starfleet lieutenant commanders

		Enlisted ranks					Etc	Officer ranks						Flag ranks
Starfleet Officers Enlisted Misc.		CR CA CN	PO3 PO2 PO1	CPO	SCPO	MCPO CMCPO FMCPO MCPOSF	WO CDT MID REC	ENS	LTJG	LT	LCDR	CDR	CAPT FCAPT	CDRE RDML RADM		VADM	ADM	FADM
Klingon Defense Force (Ground forces & navy)		Bekk	Cpl	Sgt	MSgt	SgtMaj		2nd Lt	1st Lt	Capt (HoH)	Maj	LtCol	Col	Brig ('ech)		LtGen	Gen (Sa')
			PO2	PO1	CPO	MCPO		ENS	LTJG	LT (Sogh)	LCDR	CDR (la')	CAPT (HoD)	CDRE (totlh)		VADM	ADM
Kai Imperium		TRN MNX IMUN	LGN3 LGN2 LGN1	CLGN	CEN	SCEN		PVT	PRN		OP	TRB VIC	PR	PTR		MST	LEG	IMP
Lyran ranks		CR CN	PO2 PO1	CPO	SCPO	MCPO	CDT	ENS	LTJG	LT	LCDR	CDR	CAPT FCAPT	CDRE	SCDRE	VADM	COUNT	DUKE KING

External links

• Lieutenant commander article at Memory Alpha, the canon Star Trek wiki.
• Lieutenant commander article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.
• Lieutenant commander article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.