What is a Post-Captain?

Post-captain is a rank that was used in the British Royal Navy during the 18th and early 19th centuries. It was a rank above captain and below commodore, and it was used to denote a commander who had been promoted from the rank of captain but had not yet been given a command of a ship of the line.

The rank of post-captain was established in the late 17th century as a way to provide a intermediate step between the ranks of captain and commodore. At that time, the rank of commodore was reserved for officers who had been appointed by the Admiralty to command a squadron or fleet of ships, while the rank of captain was used for officers who commanded individual ships. The rank of post-captain was created to provide a rank for officers who had been promoted from captain but had not yet been given a command of a ship of the line.

The rank of post-captain was abolished in the early 19th century, as the British Navy began to use the rank of commander as the intermediate rank between captain and commodore. Today, the rank of post-captain is no longer used in the British Navy, and the rank of commander has become the standard intermediate rank for officers who have been promoted from the rank of captain.