General admiral
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(December 2016) |
| Naval officer ranks |
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| Flag officers |
| Senior officers |
| Junior officers |
General admiralorAdmiral generalwas first a Dutch then Danish, German, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish navalrank.Its historic origin is a title high military or naval dignitaries of early modern Europe sometimes held, for example the (nominal)commander-in-chiefof theDutch Republic's navy (usually thePrince of Orange).
Denmark
[edit]
In Denmark, the General Admiral (Danish:Generaladmiral) was the term for the commander-in-chief of theDano-Norwegian navy.The rank below the General Admiral wasLieutenant General Admiral(Danish:Generaladmiralløjtnant).[1]
| Portrait | Name (birth–death) |
Term of office | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appointed | Dismissed | Time in office | |||
|
Cort Adeler (1622–1675) |
1665 | 5 November 1675 † | 9–10 years | [2] |
|
Cornelis Tromp (1629–1691) |
8 May 1676 | 1678 | 1–2 years | [3] |
|
Jens Juel (1631–1700) |
21 October 1699 | 17 April 1700 | 178 days | [4] |
|
Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve, Count of Samsø (1678–1719) |
4 May 1700 | 8 December 1719 † | 19 years, 235 days | [5] |
Nazi Germany
[edit]| General admiral Generaladmiral | |
|---|---|
 Generaladmiral rank flag | |
  Shoulder board and sleeve | |
| Country |  Nazi Germany |
| Service branch |  Kriegsmarine |
| Abbreviation | GenAdm |
| Rank group | Flag officer |
| Formation | 1936 |
| Abolished | 1945 |
| Next higher rank | Großadmiral |
| Next lower rank | Admiral |
| Equivalent ranks | Generaloberst |
In the GermanKriegsmarineof theSecond World War,Generaladmiralwas a rank senior to anAdmiral,but junior to aGroßadmiral.Generaladmiralwas a four-star admiral rank, equivalent to a full admiral in the British and American navies. In the traditional German ranking system untilWorld War II,an admiral was equivalent to a British or American vice admiral.
The sleeve insignia for aGeneraladmiralwas the same as that of a regular admiral, being a thick rank stripe below three regular stripes (Kolbenringein German naval parlance).Generaladmirals wore a third pip on their shoulder boards to differentiate them from regular admirals. The German Army and Air Force equivalent ofGeneraladmiralwas the rankcolonel general(Generaloberst).
In 1943, a directive was issued that should theOberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine( "commander of the navy" ) hold the rank ofGeneraladmiral,he would wear the sleeve insignia of a grand admiral, but the shoulder boards of aGeneraladmiral.
A similar practice was used in the German Army, allowing colonel generals to wear four pips on the shoulder board when engaged in duties befitting afield marshal.
The rank ofGeneraladmiralwas first given to the futuregrand admiralErich Raederon 20 April 1936.
List
[edit]Other holders of the rank were:
- Conrad Albrecht(1 April 1939)
- Alfred Saalwächter(1 January 1940)
- Rolf Carls(19 July 1940)
- Hermann Boehm(1 April 1941)
- Karl Witzell(1 April 1941)
- Otto Schultze(31 August 1942)
- Wilhelm Marschall(1 February 1943)
- Otto Schniewind(1 March 1944)
- Walter Warzecha(1 March 1944)
- Oskar Kummetz(16 September 1944)
- Hans-Georg von Friedeburg(1 May 1945)
Notably,Karl Dönitzwas promoted to grand admiral without becoming aGeneraladmiralfirst.
| junior rank Admiral |
 (Ranks Kriegsmarine) Generaladmiral |
senior rank Großadmiral |
Russian Empire
[edit]
General-admiral (Russian:генера́л-адмира́л) was the highest rank of theImperial Russian Navyas established by theTable of Ranksand equivalent tofield marshal.This was purely an honorific rank and for much of its existence, it was awarded only to a person on active duty, usually for the head of the naval department, and typically a descendant of theRomanovroyal family.
There were only ten holders of this rank:
- CountFranz Lefort(1695);
- CountFedor Golovin,first Russian chancellor (1700);
- CountFyodor Matveyevich Apraksin(1708);
- CountAndrei Ivanovich Ostermanor Heinrich Johann Friedrich Ostermann (1740; dismissed 1741);
- PrinceMikhail Golitsyn(1756);
- Grand Duke(Emperorsince 1796)Pavel Petrovich(1762);
- CountAlexei Grigoryevich Orlov(1770);
- CountIvan Chernyshyov(1796);
- Grand DukeConstantine Nikolayevich(1831);
- Grand DukeAlexei Alexandrovich(1883).
![[icon]](/translate/en.wikipedia.org?u=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FFile%3AWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg&t=vi){kind=small} | This sectionneeds expansion.You can help byadding to it.(June 2008) |
The general admiral rank was abolished with the fall of the Empire and was not revived when rank distinctions were reintroduced during 1935–40. The rank ofadmiral of the fleet of the Soviet Unioncan be considered as a modern equivalent.
Kingdom of Spain
[edit]Almirante generalis a rank in theSpanish Navythat is above an admiral, but subordinate to acaptain general.
Kingdom of Portugal
[edit]Almirante-generalwas the highest rank in thePortuguese Navy,from 1808 to 1812 and again, from 1892 to 1910. It was the naval equivalent to the rank ofmarechal-general( "general field marshal" ) of thePortuguese Army.
The rank was initially introduced in 1808, to be assigned to the commander-in-chief of the navy. Thealmirante-generalhad similar functions to those of the formercapitão-general da armada(captain general of the navy) which had been extinguished in 1796 and whose functions passed to the Board of the Admiralty. The rank was only given toInfantePedro Carlos de Bragança, being extinguished when he died in 1812.
In 1892, thealmirante-generalrank was reintroduced as a mere ceremonial rank to be held by the King of Portugal in his constitutional function of supreme commander of the navy. As supreme commander of the army, the king also held the ceremonial rank ofmarechal-general.The last holder of the rank was KingManuel II.
Kingdom of Sweden
[edit]Generalamiralis the highest rank of admiral that has existed in theSwedish Navy,created byCharles XIin the name of Admiral General (Amiralgeneral).Gustav IIIrevived the rank in 1780, and the same year issued instructions for the General Admiral, which alone was theKing in Council's responsible for naval existence and betterment. The rank has been held byHenrik af Trolle(1780–84),Carl August Ehrensvärd(1792–94),Johan af Puke(1812),Victor von Stedingk(1818) andRudolf Cederström(1823–28).[6]
In fiction
[edit]"Admiral General" Aladeen fromThe Dictator(2012) is a parody of leaders who appoint themselves grandiose military ranks.
References
[edit]- Citations
- ^Blangstrup, Chr., ed. (1919).Salmonsens konverssationsleksikon: Bind IX: Friele—Gradient(in Danish) (2nd ed.). Copenhagen: J. H. Schultz A/S.Retrieved7 October2020.
- ^Topsøe-Jensen & Marquard 1935a,p. 8.
- ^Garde 1861,p. 265.
- ^Topsøe-Jensen & Marquard 1935a,p. 681.
- ^Topsøe-Jensen & Marquard 1935a,pp. 505–506.
- ^Olsson, B.F.; Rosén, John; Westrin, Theodore, eds. (1882).Nordisk familjebok: konversationslexikon och realencyklopedi innehållande upplysningar och förklaringar om märkvärdiga namn, föremål och begrepp(in Swedish). Vol. 5. Stockholm. p. 1012.SELIBR78095.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
- Bibliography
- Garde, Hans Georg (1861).Den dansk-norske sømagts historie 1535-1700(in Danish). Copenhagen: B. Lunos bogtrykkeri.
- Topsøe-Jensen, T.A.; Marquard, Emil, eds. (1935a).Officerer i Den dansk-norske Søetat 1660-1814 og Den danske Søetat 1814-1932(in Danish). Vol. I. Copenhagen: Pedersen & Lefevre.