[jason taylor]

Convoy Commodore:

This is a curious example of word drift. On Ancient Terra in the fleets of classical Anglic powers Commodore meant the lowest level of flag officers but sometimes had a bit of ambiguity: at one time it was used to prevent rank inflation and corresponding expense paying Admirals appropriately.

During the Long Night it became a Merchant Rank. With state protection chancy at best (and some states providing more protection than desired), merchants would form large convoys and hope to deter corsairs by numbers. When that took place a Convoy Commodore was chosen: originally the title was given to a naval officer who came out of retirement to do the job of ensuring formation discipline and he was under the Escort commander. At that time the Convoy Commodore became a legal autocrat; he ruled the convoy much as a captain ruled his ship. The Commodore could be chosen in a number of ways, typically by voting by the owners and/or captains and could only be deposed by death, impeachment or resignation. On long voyages he could command for years at a time.

This tradition is still maintained in wilder parts at the frontiers of the Imperium. Because of this many states who still use commodore in the naval form qualify it. The Royal Caledonian Navy for instance, at various times had the ranks "Commodore-brevet" (for a captain-of-the-line commanding a flotilla, especially one senior enough to merit a flag captain), and "Crown Commodore" (Junior Grade Rear Admiral) neither of which are official now. However the generic "Commodore" usually means "Convoy Commodore" and several corporations as well as Caledonian Travellers use it in it's ancient function.

The Aslan equivalent is Aikoho Siylakht. An Aslan might refer to a human commodore as this even if he knows Anglic.