Admiral

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Common Military Ranks
Naval Forces Land/Air Forces Commonwealth Air Forces
Admiral General Air Marshal
Commodore Brigadier Air Commodore
Captain Colonel Group Captain
Commander Lieutenant Colonel Wing Commander
Lieutenant Commander Major Squadron Leader
Lieutenant Captain Flight Lieutenant
Sub-Lieutenant Lieutenant Flying Officer
Warrant Officer Warrant Officer Warrant Officer
Petty Officer Sergeant Sergeant
Leading Rate Corporal Corporal
Seaman Private Aircraftman

Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers.

Contents

The word Admiral stems from the Arabic term Amir-al-bahr (commander of the sea). Crusaders learned the term during their encounters with the Arabs, perhaps as early as the 11th century. The Sicilians and later Genoese took the first two parts of the term and used them as one word, amiral, from their Catalan opponents. The French and Spanish gave their sea commanders similar titles. As the word was used by people speaking Latin or Latin-based languages it gained the "d" and endured a series of different endings and spellings leading to the English spelling "admyrall" in the 14th century and to "admiral" by the 16th century.

The word Admiral has today come to be almost exclusively associated with the highest naval rank in most of the world's navies, equivalent to the Army rank of (Full) General.

The rank of Admiral has also been subdivided into various grades, several of which are historically extinct while others are used by most present day navies. The generic terms for these naval equivalents of army generals is Flag Officer. Some navies have also used army-type titles for them, such as the Cromwellian General at sea. The Israeli Defence Forces do not have separate naval ranks, and the Hebrew rank Aluf denotes both a General and an Admiral.

The following are the various grades of Admiral, listed by seniority.

Admiral of the Navy (1)
Admiral of the Fleet | Fleet Admiral | Grand Admiral
General Admiral
Admiral
Vice Admiral | Lieutenant Admiral (2)
Rear Admiral | Counter Admiral
Flotilla Admiral

1 Admiral of the Navy was only ever held by one U.S. officer, George Dewey. In 1945, the U.S. Navy considered creating the equivalent rank of Flag Admiral, but nothing came of the proposal.

2 Lieutenant Admiral is considered equal to Vice Admiral in most navies. The Dutch are an exception, where a Luitenant Admiraal is equivalent to an Admiral.

Some navies have a junior rank of Flotilla Admiral, corresponding to Commodore in other navies. The U.S. Navy briefly flirted with the rank of Commodore Admiral (about 11 months), before splitting Rear Admiral into Rear Admiral, Upper Half and Rear Admiral, Lower Half. The Royal Navy has the position (not ranked by curtis) of Port Admiral; historically, this was often a senior captain rather than an admiral proper.

In science fiction, additional ranks such as Sector Admiral, High Admiral, and Branch Admiral are sometimes mentioned. None of these fictional ranks have ever been used, however, in a real navy. The rank of Fleet Admiral is also common in science fiction.

See also Category:Fictional admirals and Admiral (Star Trek).

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