Admiral

Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies, and in many navies is the highest rank. The rank is generally thought to have originated in Sicily from a conflation of Arabic: أمير البحر‎, romanized: amīr al-baḥr, lit. 'commander of the sea'. Alternative etymologies derive the word directly from Latin admirabilis ("admirable") or admiratus ("admired"), or from the Turkish military and naval rank miralay. The French version—amiral without the additional d—tends to add evidence for the Arab origin.[1]

For other uses, see Admiral (disambiguation).
Comparative military ranks in English
Armies Navies Air forces
Commissioned officers
Field marshal or
General of the army		 Admiral of
the fleet		 Marshal of
the air force
General Admiral Air chief marshal
Lieutenant general Vice admiral Air marshal
Major general Rear admiral Air vice-marshal
Brigadier or
brigadier general		 Commodore Air commodore
Colonel Captain Group captain
Lieutenant colonel Commander Wing commander
Major or
commandant		 Lieutenant
commander		 Squadron leader
Captain Lieutenant Flight lieutenant
Lieutenant or
first lieutenant		 Lieutenant
junior grade or
sub-lieutenant		 Flying officer
Second lieutenant Ensign or
midshipman		 Pilot officer
Officer cadet Officer cadet Flight cadet
Enlisted grades
Warrant officer or
sergeant major		 Warrant officer or
chief petty officer		 Warrant officer
Sergeant Petty officer Sergeant
Corporal or
bombardier		 Leading seaman Corporal
Private or
gunner or
trooper		 Seaman Aircraftman or
airman
Naval officer ranks
Flag officers
Senior officers
Junior officers

In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, or fleet admiral. In NATO, admirals have a rank code of OF-9 as a four-star rank.

Etymology

The word admiral in Middle English comes from Anglo-French amiral, "commander", from Medieval Latin admiralis, admirallus. These themselves come from Arabic amīr, or amīr al- (أمير الـ), "commander of", as in amīr al-baḥr (أمير البحر), "commander of the sea".[2] The term was in use for the Greco-Arab naval leaders of Norman Sicily, which had formerly been ruled by Arabs, at least by the early 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 Muslim 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.[3]

The Sicilians and later Genoese took the first two parts of the term and used them as one word, amiral, from their Aragon opponents.[4] The French and Spanish gave their sea commanders similar titles while in Portuguese the word changed to almirante.[5] 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.[6][7]

Further history

The word "admiral" has come to be almost exclusively associated with the highest naval rank in most of the world's navies, equivalent to the army rank of general. However, this was not 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.[8]

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 the 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.[9] Some navies have also used army-type titles for them, such as the Cromwellian "general at sea".[10]

Admiral insignia by country

The rank insignia for an admiral often involves four stars or similar devices, or three stripes over a broad stripe, but there are many cases where the insignia do not involve four stars or similar devices.

National ranks

Australia
Main article: Admiral (Australia)

Canada
Main article: Admiral (Canada)

France
See also: Admiral of France

Germany
Main article: Admiral (Germany)

India
Main article: Admiral (India)

Japan

Post-World War II rank is Bakurocho taru kaishō or Kaishō serve as Chief of Staff, Joint Staff with limited function as an advisory staff to Minister of Defense (Japan), compared to Kaigun-taishō (Imperial Japanese Navy) during 1872–1873 and 1898–1945.

Netherlands
Main article: Admiral (Netherlands)

Pakistan
Main article: Admiral (Pakistan)

Russia

Spain
See also: Admiral of Castile

Sweden
Main article: Admiral (Sweden)

United Kingdom

United States
Main article: Admiral (United States)
See also: Admiral of the Navy (United States)

See also

Notes
  1. Chief of Joint Staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and Chief of Staff of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force

References
  1. "Online Etymology Dictionary". etymonline.com. Retrieved 2015-05-04.
  2. "Definition of ADMIRAL". Merriam-Webster.
  3. David Abulafia (2011). The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 978-0-7139-9934-1.
  4. Harry Thurston Peck; Selim Hobart Peabody; Charles Francis Richardson, eds. (1899) [1885]. The International Cyclopedia: A Compendium of Human Knowledge. 1. Dodd, Mead & Co. p. 103.
  5. Antonio Vieyra (1851). A dictionary of the English and Portuguese languages. 2. p. 48.
  6. The English Charlemagne Romances: The Boke of Duke Huon de Bordeaux. 1534. p. 143.
  7. John Ehrman (2011) [1953]. The Navy in the War of William III 1689-1697: Its State and Direction. Cambridge University Press. p. 190. ISBN 978-1-107-64511-0.
  8. Erich Raeder (2001). Grand Admiral (1st ed.). Da Capo Press. p. 430. ISBN 0306809621.
  9. Brian Lavery (2003). Horatio Lord Nelson. Trustees of the National Maritime Museum. p. 139. ISBN 0-8147-5190-3.
  10. William Hepworth Dixon (1885). Robert Blake, Admiral and General at Sea: Based on Family and State Papers. Ballantyne Press.
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