Admiral (Royal Navy)
Admiral | |
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Vice admiral | |
Equivalent ranks | ) |
Admiral is a senior rank of the
The equivalent rank in the British Army and Royal Marines is general; and in the Royal Air Force, it is air chief marshal.
History
The first admirals (1224 to 1523)
King
Squadron admirals of the colour from 1558 to 1603
In
Introduction of vice and rear admirals
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, the
Promotion path of flag officers from 1702 to 1864
Promotion up the ladder was in accordance with seniority in the rank of post-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 of yellow 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 on half-pay.[5][6] This was the navy's first attempt at superannuating older officers.[7]
Interregnum to the present
During the Interregnum, the rank of admiral was replaced by that of general 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 as Admiral of the Fleet. After the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 the rank of admiral of the red was introduced.[8] 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 the Napoleonic 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 the Board 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 the
The 18th- and 19th-century Royal Navy also maintained a positional rank known as
The problem of promoting strictly by seniority was well illustrated by the case of
In 1996, the rank of admiral of the fleet was put in abeyance in peacetime, except for members of the
Rank insignia and personal flag
The current ranks are rear admiral, vice admiral, admiral and admiral of the fleet, also known as flag ranks because admirals, known as
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-9
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Sleeve lace
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Shoulder board
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Shoulder board prior to 2001
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World War II admiral's shoulder board
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Command flag for an admiral from 1864.
History command flags
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 no
See also
- Admiral of the Blue
- Admiral of the White
- Admiral of the Red
- British ensigns
- British and U.S. military ranks compared
- Coloured squadrons of the Royal Navy
- Comparative military ranks
- Royal Navy officer rank insignia
- List of Royal Navy admirals
References
- ^ a b c d e Houbraken, Jacobus; Thoyras, Paul de Rapin; Vertue, George (1747). The History of England, A List of Admirals of England, 1228–1745. J. and P. Knapton. p. 270.
- JSTOR 24400638.
- ^ "Information sheet no 055: Squadron Colours" (PDF). nmrn-portsmouth.org.uk. The National Museum Royal Navy. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
- ^ Millar, Stephen (2008). "Promotion in the flag ranks of the Royal Navy During the Napoleonic Wars". Retrieved 23 December 2016.
- ^ Rodger, N. (1986) The Wooden World: An Anatomy of the Georgian Navy, Collins, p. 299
- ^ N.A.M. Rodger (2004) The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain 1649-1815 London, Allen Lane, 325-6
- ^ "Promotion in the Flag Ranks in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars". www.napoleon-series.org. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
- ^ "The Amazing Career of Lieutenant Wallis, Royal Navy – War of 1812". www.warof1812.ca. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
- ^ "London Gazette, "The following promotions have taken place, dated the 30th ultimo, consequent on the death of Admiral of the Fleet, Sir James Hawkins Whitshed..."". Retrieved 6 October 2019.
- ^ royalnavy.mod.uk Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Uniforms and Badges of Rank: Admiral
- ^ Admiral is a four-star rank in NATO, Commonwealth and, since 2001, the Royal Navy (Refer UK DCI (Joint Service) 125/2001).
- ^ Perrin, W. G. (William Gordon) (1922). "IV:Flags of Command". British flags, their early history, and their development at sea; with an account of the origin of the flag as a national device. Cambridge, England: Cambridge : The University Press. pp. 73–109.
Sources
- Archives, National The. (2017). "Trafalgar Ancestors, Glossary". nationalarchives.gov.uk. National Archives. London. England
- Bothwell, James (2004). Edward III and the English Peerage: Royal Patronage, Social Mobility, and Political Control in Fourteenth-century England. Boydell Press. ISBN 9781843830474.
- Houbraken, Jacobus. Thoyras, Paul de Rapin. Vertue, George. (1747). The History of England, A List of Admirals of England (1224–1745). England. Kanpton. P and J.
- Perrin, W. G. (William Gordon) (1922). "IV:Flags of Command". British flags, their early history, and their development at sea; with an account of the origin of the flag as a national device. Cambridge, England: Cambridge : The University Press.
External links
Media related to Admirals of the United Kingdom at Wikimedia Commons
- Squadronal colours factsheet from the Royal Naval museum.