Admiral

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For other uses, see Admiral (disambiguation).
See also: Admiralty
Navies Armies Air forces
Officers
Admiral of
the fleet		 Marshal or
Field marshal		 Marshal of
the air force
Admiral General Air chief marshal
Vice admiral Lieutenant general Air marshal
Rear admiral Major general Air vice-marshal
Commodore Brigadier Air commodore
Captain Colonel Group captain
Commander Lieutenant colonel Wing commander
Lieutenant
commander		 Major or
Commandant		 Squadron leader
Lieutenant Captain Flight lieutenant
Sub-lieutenant Lieutenant Flying officer
Ensign Second
lieutenant		 Pilot officer
Midshipman Officer cadet Officer cadet
Seamen, soldiers and airmen
Warrant officer Sergeant major or
Warrant officer		 Warrant officer
Petty officer Sergeant Sergeant
Leading seaman Corporal Corporal
Seaman Private Aircraftman
Naval officer ranks
Flag officers:

Admiral of the fleet • Fleet admiral • Grand admiral
Admiral • General admiral
Vice admiral • Squadron vice-admiral • Lieutenant admiral
Rear admiral • Counter admiral • Divisional admiral
Commodore • Flotilla admiral
Senior officers:

Captain • Capt at sea • Capt of sea and war • Ship-of-the-line Capt
Commander • Frigate captain
Lieutenant commander • Corvette captain
Junior officers:

Captain lieutenant • Lieutenant • Ship-of-the-line lieutenant
Frigate lieutenant • Lieutenant (junior grade) • Sub-lieutenant
Corvette lieutenant • Ensign
Midshipman

Admiral (Arabic: أمير البحر or أدميرال the prince of the sea) is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. The rank usually refers to the position of full admiral (equivalent to full general) and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet (or fleet admiral). It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM". Where relevant, admiral has a NATO code of OF-9, and is a four-star rank.

Etymology[edit]

The word "admiral" in Middle English comes from Anglo-French amiral, "commander", from Medieval Latin admiralis, admirallus. These themselves come from Arabic "amir", or amir-al- أمير الـ, "commander of the" (as in amir-al-baHr أمير البحر "commander of the sea").[1] Crusaders learned the term during their encounters with the Muslim Arabs, perhaps as early as the 11th century.

The Norman Roger II of Sicily (1095–1154), employed a Greek Christian known as George of Antioch, who previously had served as a naval commander for several North African Moslem rulers. Roger styled George in Abbasid fashion as "Amir of Amirs", i.e. "Commander of Commanders", with the title becoming Latinized in the 13th century as "ammiratus ammiratorum".[2]

The Sicilians and later Genoese took the first two parts of the term and used them as one word, amiral, from their Aragon opponents. The French and Spanish gave their sea commanders similar titles while in Portuguese the word changed to almirante. 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. However, this wasn't always the case; for example, in some European countries prior to the end of World War II, admiral was the third highest naval rank after general admiral and grand admiral.

The rank of admiral has also been subdivided into various grades, several of which are historically extinct while others remain in use in most present day navies. The Royal Navy used colours (red, white, and blue, in descending order) to indicate seniority of its admirals until 1864; for example, Horatio Nelson's highest rank was vice admiral of the white. The generic term 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".

Admiral insignia by country[edit]

The rank insignia for an admiral often involves four stars and/or 3 stripes/rings over a broad stripe/ring, but as one can see below, there are many cases where the insignia do not involve four stars.

National ranks[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary
  2. ^ Abulafia (2011).

References[edit]

  • Abulafia, David (2011) The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean. (London: Allen Lane). ISBN 978-0-7139-9934-1
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