Commodore rank
All right, since I'm going insane here, I figured I'd turn to my fellow Navy lovers for help. This *SPOILERY* meta piece on Norrington from PotC by galadhir has made my head spin regarding the rank/title of Commodore. The point that interests me most is Norrington being made a Commodore of Port Royal at a fairly young age. Now, I know the PotC writers have taken a few liberties with 18th century history, I'm just wondering if this extends to Royal Navy history as well.
My understanding of the rank (primarily thanks to the Aubrey-Maturin series and the historical guru that was Patrick O'Brian) is that in the 18th and 19th centuries it was a titulary rank assigned to Post-Captains in command of a squadron regardless of seniority on the Post-Captains list and, therefore, age. So, my question is how could Norrington have been made a Commodore? Granted, he has several ships at his disposal in CotBP in defense of the city and occasionally ventures out for action, but it almost seems like he's something of a Port Admiral as well. So, if he's defending Port Royal, could this have been a plausible application of the rank of Commodore or have the Pirates writers taken creative license with history yet again?
x-posted a few places
My understanding of the rank (primarily thanks to the Aubrey-Maturin series and the historical guru that was Patrick O'Brian) is that in the 18th and 19th centuries it was a titulary rank assigned to Post-Captains in command of a squadron regardless of seniority on the Post-Captains list and, therefore, age. So, my question is how could Norrington have been made a Commodore? Granted, he has several ships at his disposal in CotBP in defense of the city and occasionally ventures out for action, but it almost seems like he's something of a Port Admiral as well. So, if he's defending Port Royal, could this have been a plausible application of the rank of Commodore or have the Pirates writers taken creative license with history yet again?
x-posted a few places