Lieutenant commander

Naval officer ranks
Flag officers
Senior officers
Junior officers
Comparative military ranks
Armies,
air forces
(non-Commonwealth)		 Navies,
coast guards		 Air forces
(Commonwealth system)
Flag commissioned officers
Field marshal or Marshal or Captain general Admiral of the fleet Marshal of the air force
General or
colonel general or
army general		 Admiral Air chief marshal
Lieutenant general or
army corps general		 Vice admiral Air marshal
Major general or
divisional general		 Rear admiral or
Counter admiral		 Air vice-marshal
Brigadier or
brigadier general		 Commodore or
flotilla admiral		 Air commodore
Senior commissioned officers
Colonel (Ship-of-the-line)
Captain		 Group captain
Lieutenant colonel Frigate captain or
Commander		 Wing commander
Major or
commandant		 Corvette captain or Lieutenant
commander		 Squadron leader
Junior commissioned officers
Captain Lieutenant Flight lieutenant
First lieutenant or
lieutenant		 Lieutenant
junior grade or
sub-lieutenant		 Flying officer
Second lieutenant or
junior lieutenant		 Ensign or
midshipman		 Pilot officer
Officer cadet Officer cadet Flight cadet
Non-commissioned officers
Warrant officer or
sergeant major		 Warrant officer or
chief petty officer		 Warrant officer
Sergeant Petty officer Sergeant
Enlisted ranks
Corporal or
bombardier		 Leading seaman Corporal
Lance corporal or
Lance bombardier or
Specialist		 Able seaman Leading aircraftman or
Air specialist
Private or
gunner or
trooper or
sapper		 Seaman Aircraftman or
airman or
aviator

Lieutenant Commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr,[1] LtCdr.,[2] LCDR,[3][4] or LCdr[5]) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank in most armies and air forces is major, and in the Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces is squadron leader. It is roughly equivalent to the Corvette Captain rank in central European countries and the Captain 3rd rank rank in eastern European/CIS countries.

The NATO rank code is mostly OF-3.[6]

A Lieutenant Commander is a department officer or the executive officer (second-in-command) on many warships and smaller shore installations, or the commanding officer of a smaller ship/installation.[7] They are also department officers in naval aviation squadrons.

  1. ^ "Triservice Officers Pay and Grade" (PDF). UK Government. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  2. ^ "A Dane giving the orders". Admiral Danish Fleet. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  3. ^ "US Navy Ranks". United States Navy. Archived from the original on 2 May 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-25.
  4. ^ "Uniform Ranks". Royal Australian Navy. Archived from the original on 24 January 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  5. ^ "Royal Canadian Navy ranks and badges". Department of National Defence (Canada). 2023-08-30. Archived from the original on 2023-04-27. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  6. ^ "NATO Standard Agreement (STANAG) 2116: NATO Codes for Grades of Military Personnel". NATO standardization agreement (5 ed.). NATO Standardization Agency (published 25 February 2010). 13 March 1996. Archived from the original on 1 September 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  7. ^ "United States Navy - O-4 Lieutenant Commander". FederalPay.org. Archived from the original on 8 May 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2017.