History
The title (originally "master and commander") originated in the 18th century to describe naval officers who commanded ships of war too large to be commanded by a lieutenant but too small to warrant the assignment of a post-captain, or (before about 1770) a sailing-master; the commanding officer served as his own master. In practice, these were usually unrated sloops-of-war of no more than 20 guns. The Royal Navy shortened "master and commander" to "commander" in 1794; however, the term "master and commander" remained (unofficially) in common parlance for several years. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the rank has been assigned the NATO rank code of OF-4.
Read more about this topic: Commander (Royal Navy)
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