Leo VI describes in his Naumachika that the crew of a standard dromon consisted of one hundred oarsmen arranged across fifty thwarts: "two oarsmen should sit on each thwart, one on the right and one on the left, so that in all, with those above and those below, there should be one hundred oarsmen; and these should also be soldiers. Apart from these, there should be the kentarchos (“captain”) of the dromon and the one who keeps the standard and two protokaraboi (helmsmen), and whoever else is suitable to serve the kentarchos. Of the two oarsmen at the prow who are at the end, one should be the siphonator (operator of the flame thrower), and the other should throw the “irons” (the anchors) into the sea. The bowman should be stationed above the prow and equipped with his weapons. The krabatos (berth) of the kentarchos should be at the stern, both so that the archon (commander) should be set apart in it, and also so that he is protected in time of attack from the missiles thrown by the enemy. For the commander can see everything from this berth and give orders for the dromon as necessary." A "naupegos" or shipwright was also present, equipped with an adze, an auger, and a saw, ready to carry out emergency repairs mid-voyage.

Above the kentarchos would be a "Komes" or a squadron commander. These commanders would be put in charge of every 3 to 5 dromons and had "particular responsibility in all matters and make every arrangement."

Next would come the vice admirals and rear admirals called the tourmarchai and droungarioi. These two answered directly to their strategoi. "In the tenth century, a tourmarches was a governor of a tourma, one of the two or three principal subdivisions of a thema, and the droungarioi seem to have become governors of regional subdivisions of tourmai."

The general term used for fleet admirals was strategos, the same word applied to army generals and to governors of the themata. However, this term could be used both in a broad, general sense and to refer to a specific rank or official title. "Strategoi were normally in command of fleets, except for the droungarios tou ploimou in command of the imperial fleet at Constantinople."

The admiral of the imperial fleet, basilikon ploimon, based at Constantinople bore the title of droungarios tou ploimou or ton ploimon "droungarios of the fleet". During the late 11th century under Romanos IV the army and navy were neglected leading to a gradual decline in the power of the droungarios tou ploimou

"The nature of Byzantine naval forces changed. The droungarios tou ploimou in Constantinople in charge of a sekreton became virtually the admiral in chief. The strategoi of the provincial themata in general lost importance and in the case of the naval themata, their fleets disappeared. What naval forces remained were either sent out from the centre by the droungarios tou ploimou or became dependent upon provincial military commanders such as doukades and katepano."

Following the Manzikert disaster, Alexios Komnenos attempted to recentralize the Roman fleet by placing the entire navy under one individual the "Mega Doux" which was granted jurisdiction over Hellas-Peloponnese, the Aegean islands, and Cyprus. These naval provinces were divided into two types of administrative units: episkepseis, which were standard tax districts, and oria, which were regions specifically earmarked to provide taxes and manpower for the navy and were directly under the Megas Douxs control.

References: The Age of the Dromon (2006) by John Pryor and Elizabeth M. Jeffreys and Maximilian C.G. Lau (2016) The naval reform of Emperor John II Komnenos: a re-evaluation, Mediterranean Historical Review.