| Admiral | |
|---|---|
 Flag of an admiral,Royal Navy. | |
 Insignia shoulder board and Sleeve lace for Admiral | |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Service branch |  Royal Navy |
| Abbreviation | Adm |
| Rank group | Flag officer |
| Rank | Four-star |
| NATOrank code | OF-9 |
| Formation | 1224 |
| Next higher rank | Admiral of the Fleet |
| Next lower rank | Vice admiral |
| Equivalent ranks | |
Admiral is a senior rank of theRoyal Navy, which equates to the NATO rank codeOF-9, outranked only by the rank ofadmiral of the fleet. Royal Navy officers holding the ranks ofrear admiral,vice admiral and admiral of the fleet are sometimes considered generically to be admirals. The rank of admiral is currently the highest rank to which a serving officer in the Royal Navy can be promoted, admiral of the fleet being inabeyance except for honorary promotions of retired officers and members of the royal family.
The equivalent rank in theBritish Army andRoyal Marines isgeneral; and in theRoyal Air Force, it isair chief marshal.
The titleadmiral was not used in Europe until the mid-13th century and did not reach England before the end of that century.[1] Similarly, although some royal vessels are attested underKing John,[2] the English long depended upon levies of their subjects' vessels for any major naval expeditions.[3] Nonetheless, historians have sometimes extended the concept of an English navy and its supposed admirals andlord high admirals back as far asAlfred the Great, counting several kings as themselves admirals, along with various dukes and earls who commanded fleets at prominent engagements such asHubert de Burghoff Sandwich in 1217.[4] Other lists begin their count atKing Henry III's appointment ofSir Richard de Lucy on 28 August 1223[4] or 29 August 1224.[5] A similar commission was given toSir Thomas Moulton in 1264,[5] who held the formal title of Keeper of the Sea and the Sea Ports.
On 8 March 1287,Sir William de Leybourne was specifically commissioned as the Admiral of the Seas of England (Latin:Admirallus Maris Angliae) and, in 1294, captain of all sailors and mariners of the king's dominions.[3]Sir John de Botetourt served under him as warden at sea from theThames to Scotland.[3] This was part of an effort byEdward I to establish a permanent official staff, even if a permanent naval force was not yet considered necessary.[3] Leybourne's immediate purview was subsequently divided into the roles ofAdmiral of the West andAdmiral of the South while Botetourt's became theAdmiral of the North; the first and last merged as theAdmiral of the North and West in 1364; and from 1408–1414 they were all reunited as theHigh Admiral of England, Ireland, and Aquitaine, the forerunner to the presentLord High Admiral.[5] (During this process, the short-lived post ofAdmiral of the Narrow Seas was used in 1412 and 1413. It was subsequently revived from 1523 to 1688).
The first royal commission as Admiral to anaval officer was granted in 1303[6] toGervase Alard.[7] By 1344, it was only used as a rank at sea for a captain in charge of one or more fleets.[6]
InElizabethan times the fleet grew large enough to be organised intosquadrons. The squadron's admiral flew ared ensign, the vice admiralswhite, and the rear admiralsblue on the aft mast of his ship. As the squadrons grew, each was eventually commanded by an admiral (with vice admirals and rear admirals commanding sections) and the official ranks became admiral of the white and so forth, however eachadmiral's command flags were different and changed over time.[8]
The Royal Navy has had vice and rear admirals regularly appointed to the post since at least the 16th century. When in command of the fleet, the admiral would be in either the lead or the middle portion of the fleet. When the admiral commanded from the middle portion of the fleet his deputy, thevice admiral, would be in the leading portion orvan. Below him was another admiral at the rear of the fleet, calledrear admiral.[6]
Promotion up the ladder was in accordance with seniority in the rank ofpost-captain, and rank was held for life, so the only way to be promoted was for the person above on the list to die or resign. In 1747 the Admiralty restored an element of merit selection to this process by introducing the concept ofyellow admirals (formally known as granting an officer the position of "Rear-Admiral without distinction of squadron"), being captains promoted to flag rank on the understanding that they would immediately retire onhalf-pay.[9][10] This was the navy's first attempt atsuperannuating older officers.[11]
During theInterregnum, the rank of admiral was replaced by that ofgeneral at sea. In the 18th century, the original nine ranks began to be filled by more than one man per rank, although the rank of admiral of the red was always filled by only one man and was known asAdmiral of the Fleet. After theBattle of Trafalgar in 1805 the rank of admiral of the red was introduced.[12] The number of officers holding each rank steadily increased throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1769 there were 29 admirals of various grades; by the close of theNapoleonic Wars in 1816 there were 190 admirals in service. Thereafter the number of admirals was reduced and in 1853 there were 79 admirals.
Although admirals were promoted according to strict seniority, appointments to command were made at the discretion of theBoard of Admiralty. As there were invariably more admirals in service than there were postings, many admirals remained unemployed, especially in peacetime.
The organisation of the fleet into coloured squadrons was finally abandoned in 1864. The Red Ensign was allocated to theMerchant Navy, the White Ensign became the flag of the Royal Navy, and the Blue Ensign was allocated to the naval reserve and naval auxiliary vessels.
The 18th- and 19th-century Royal Navy also maintained a positional rank known asport admiral. A port admiral was typically a veteran captain who served as the shore commander of a British naval port and was in charge of supplying, refitting, and maintaining the ships docked at harbour.
The problem of promoting strictly by seniority was well illustrated by the case ofProvo Wallis who served (including time being carried on the books while still a child) for 96 years. When he died in 1892 four admirals under him could immediately be promoted.[13] By request ofQueen Victoria,John Edmund Commerell became Admiral of the Fleet rather thanAlgernon Frederick Rous de Horsey, who as senior active admiral nearing the age limit would customarily have received the promotion;John Baird became an Admiral;James Erskine a vice-admiral; andHarry Rawson a rear-admiral. Ironically, all these younger men would die at least a decade before de Horsey. In the time before squadron distinctions were removed or age limits instituted, the death ofJames Hawkins-Whitshed resulted inten men moving up to higher ranks.[14]
In 1996, the rank of admiral of the fleet was put in abeyance in peacetime, except for members of theRoyal family but was resurrected on an honorary basis in 2014 for the appointment ofLord Boyce. Admirals of the fleet continue to hold their rank on theactive list for life.
The current ranks are rear admiral, vice admiral, admiral and admiral of the fleet, also known as flag ranks because admirals, known asflag officers, are entitled to fly apersonal flag. An admiral of the fleet flies aUnion Flag at the masthead, while an admiral flies aSt George's cross (red cross on white). Vice admirals and rear admirals fly a St George's cross with one or two red discs in the hoist, respectively.
The rank of admiral itself is shown in its sleeve lace by a broad band with three narrower bands. In 2001 the number of stars on the shoulder board was increased to four, reflecting the equivalence to the OF-9four-star ranks of other countries.[15][16]
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Prior to 1864 the Royal Navy was divided into coloured squadrons which determined his career path. The command flags flown by an Admiral changed a number of times during this period, there was noAdmiral of the Red rank until that post was introduced in 1805 prior to this the highest rank an admiral could attain to wasAdmiral of the White who then flew theCross of St George. The next promotion step up from that was to Admiral of the Fleet.[17]
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