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To help sargun out more, Hopper was an O-7, where naval officer's ranks go from O-1 (ensign) to O-10 (admiral). This rank -- along with O-8 (rear admiral (upper half)) -- was previously called "commodore," and in some other countries still is, as in Commodore Matthew Perry.

e: What was previously commodore was split into the current two rear admiral ranks.

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Nit: although the 'pedia says rear admiral outranks commodore, in the U.S. Navy the rank is equivalent to commodore in other navies.

Thats because the US Navy has two rear admiral ranks. The lower rear admiral is a 1 star officer and is equivalent to commodores in other navys. The upper rear admiral is a 2 star officer is equivalent to "normal" rear admirals in most other navies.

To make it even more confusing, there are still commodores in the US Navy, but they are job positions and not ranks.

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