Only when I saw his obituary last month did I discover he had retired as a Commodore but always said he had been over-promoted. Double modesty.
Actually quite correct, as Commodore was not (at the time) a substantive rank - it went with some senior RN captain's jobs, particularly where they had a NATO interaction, as there was no direct RN equiv to a 1*/Brigadier/Air Commodore. On relinquishing the post, you lost the acting rank.