The first chefs d'escadre were created by
Louis XIII in 1627 - he had a "chef d'escadre of
Normandy" commanding the port of
Le Havre, a chef d'escadre of
Brittany commanding
Brest, and a chef d'escadre of
Guyenne commanding
Brouage. Each of these chefs d'escadres, as
officiers d'épée, were flanked by a
commissaire général, an
officier de plume. Their numbers grew rapidly: in 1635 a chef d'escadre of Provence was created, then in 1647 a chef d'escadre for
Flanders, in 1663 one for
Poitou-
Saintonge, in 1673 one for
Picardy and one for
Languedoc, in 1689 one for
Aunis, in 1701 one for
America, and in 1707 one for
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-chiefs of the naval armies). From 1772, there were 25 of them. The chefs d'escadres were chosen from among the
capitaines de vaisseau; as the flag of their command they flew a "cornette" at the top of their flagship's main-mast (a flag named after its resemblance in shape to a
cornette, making it roughly the same shape as a
British commodore's '
broad pennant'). The rank of Chef d'escadre was junior to that of Lieutenant-général des armées navales. From 25 March 1765, the rank was senior to
Brigadier des armées navales, renamed to Chef de Division on 1 January 1786. == Sources and references ==