# Chef d'escadre

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French Navy flag officer rank

[Louis XIII](/source/Louis_XIII), who created the rank

***Chef d'escadre*** (pronounced [\[ʃɛf dɛskadʁ\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/French); literally "[squadron](/source/Squadron_(naval)) commander") was a [flag officer](/source/Flag_officer) rank in the [French Navy](/source/French_Navy) used during the *[ancien régime](/source/Ancien_r%C3%A9gime)* until the [French Revolution](/source/French_Revolution). The rank was changed to [counter admiral](/source/Counter_admiral) by a law passed by the [National Constituent Assembly](/source/National_Constituent_Assembly_(France)) on 15 May 1791.

## History

The rank of *chef d'escadre* was created by [Louis XIII](/source/Louis_XIII) in 1627, when he appointed several [French Navy](/source/French_Navy) officers as *chefs d'escadre* to command the ports of [Le Havre](/source/Le_Havre) in [Normandy](/source/Normandy), [Brest](/source/Brest%2C_France) in [Brittany](/source/Brittany) and [Brouage](/source/Brouage) in [Guyenne](/source/Guyenne). Each of these chefs d'escadres, as *[officiers d'épée](/source/Officier_d'%C3%A9p%C3%A9e)*, were flanked by a [commissioner general](/source/Commissioner_general), an *[officier de plume](/source/Officier_de_plume)*. The number of *chefs d'escadre* grew rapidly: in 1635 a *chef d'escadre* of [Provence](/source/Provence) was created, then in 1647 a *chef d'escadre* for [Flanders](/source/Flanders), in 1663 one for [Poitou](/source/Poitou)-[Saintonge](/source/County_of_Saintonge), in 1673 one for [Picardy](/source/Picardy) and another for [Languedoc](/source/Languedoc), in 1689 one for [Aunis](/source/Aunis), in 1701 one for [America](/source/French_colonization_of_the_Americas), and in 1707 one for [Roussillon](/source/Roussillon). After 1715, there were more *chefs d'escadre* than there were coastal provinces, and so they started taking the title "chefs d'escadre des armées navales" (squadron commanders of the naval armies). In 1772, there were 25 officers with the rank.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

*Chefs d'escadres* were chosen from among the French navy's [ship-of-the-line captains](/source/Ship-of-the-line_captain), and their command flag consisted of a "cornette" flown at the top of their [flagship](/source/Flagship)'s mainmast. The flag was named after its resemblance in shape to a [cornette](/source/Cornette), making it roughly the same shape as the [broad pennants](/source/Broad_pennant) flown by the [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy)'s [commodores](/source/Commodore_(Royal_Navy)). The rank of *chef d'escadre* was junior to *[lieutenant général des armées navales](/source/Lieutenant_g%C3%A9n%C3%A9ral_des_arm%C3%A9es_navales)* (lieutenant general of the naval armies). From 25 March 1765, the rank was senior to *[brigadier des armées navales](/source/Brigadier_des_arm%C3%A9es_navales)* (brigadier of the naval armies), which was renamed *[chef de division](/source/Chef_de_division)* (division commander) on 1 January 1786.[1] The rank of *chef d'escadre* was changed to [counter admiral](/source/Counter_admiral) by a law passed by the [National Constituent Assembly](/source/National_Constituent_Assembly_(France)) on 15 May 1791.[2]

## Sources and references

**Notes**

**Citations**

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEVergé-Franceschi2002250_1-0)** [Vergé-Franceschi (2002)](#CITEREFVergé-Franceschi2002), p. 250.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEVergé-Franceschi2002339_2-0)** [Vergé-Franceschi (2002)](#CITEREFVergé-Franceschi2002), p. 339.

**References**

- [Vergé-Franceschi, Michel](/source/Michel_Verg%C3%A9-Franceschi) (2002). *Dictionnaire d'Histoire maritime*. Paris: Robert Laffont. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [2-221-08751-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/2-221-08751-8).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Chef d'escadre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chef_d'escadre) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chef_d'escadre?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.