Admiral of the Navy (United States)

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Insignia for Admiral of the Navy.

Admiral of the Navy is a rank in the United States Navy that has only been held once in history, by George Dewey. In recognition of his victory at Manila Bay in 1898, United States Congress authorized a single officer to hold the rank of admiral, and promoted Dewey to this rank in March 1899. By a Congressional Act of March 24, 1903, Dewey's rank was established as Admiral of the Navy, effective retroactive to March 1899. The text of the act read as follows:

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President is hereby authorized to appoint, by selection and promotion, an Admiral of the Navy, who shall not be placed upon the retired list except upon his own application; and whenever such office shall be vacated by death or otherwise the office shall cease to exist.[1]

It was further specified that this rank was senior to the four-star rank of admiral and was equal to Admiral of the Fleet in the British Royal Navy. The rank lapsed with the death of Admiral Dewey on January 16, 1917.

Comparison to Fleet Admiral

In 1944, with the establishment of the rank of five-star Fleet Admiral, the Department of the Navy specified in a Bureau of Navigation memo that "the rank of Fleet Admiral of the United States Navy shall be considered the senior most rank of the United States Navy". As George Dewey had been deceased for nearly thirty years, no comparison between his rank and that of Fleet Admiral was made until 1945. At that time, during the preparations for the invasion of Japan, the possibility was raised of promoting one of the serving United States Fleet Admirals to "six star rank" should the Army take a similar measure by promoting Douglas MacArthur to the rank of General of the Armies. Nothing official was ever published by the Navy Department concerning a Navy six star admiral rank and no comparison between the Admiral of the Navy, General of the Armies, and Fleet Admiral rank was ever announced.

See also

Sources

  1. ↑ CHAP 378, "An act creating the office of Admiral of the Navy", United States Congress
United States uniformed services commissioned officer and officer candidate ranks
Pay grade / branch of service Officer
candidate		 O-1 O-2 O-3 O-4 O-5 O-6 O-7 O-8 O-9 O-10 O-11
(Obs.)		 Special
grade
Approximate insignia[1][2] Officer Candidate Second lieutenant / Ensign First lieutenant / Lieutenant (junior grade) Captain / Lieutenant Major / Lieutenant commander Lieutenant colonel / Commander Colonel / Captain Brigadier general / Rear admiral (lower half) Major General / Rear admiral Lieutenant general / Vice admiral General / Admiral General of the Air Force / General of the Army / Fleet Admiral General of the Armies[2]
Army CDT / OC 2LT 1LT CPT MAJ LTC COL BG MG LTG GEN GA[3] GAS[3]
Marine Corps Midn / Cand 2ndLt 1stLt Capt Maj LtCol Col BGen MajGen LtGen Gen [5] [5]
Navy MIDN / OC ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RDML RADM VADM ADM FADM[3] AN[3]
Air Force Cadet / OT / OC 2d Lt 1st Lt Capt Maj Lt Col Col Brig Gen Maj Gen Lt Gen Gen GAF[3] [5]
Coast Guard CDT / OC ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RDML RADM VADM ADM [5] [5]
Public Health Service [OC] ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RADM RADM VADM ADM [5] [5]
NOAA Corps OC ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RDML RADM VADM [4] [5] [5]
[1] No universal insignia for officer candidate rank; Navy candidate insignia shown
[2]Unofficial 1945 proposal for General of the Armies insignia; John J. Pershing's GAS insignia: General of the Armies; George Dewey's AN insignia: Admiral of the Navy
[3] Rank used for specific officers in wartime only, not permanent addition to rank structure
[4] Grade is authorized by the U.S. Code for use but has not been created
[5] Grade has never been created or authorized
United States warrant officer ranks
W-1 W-2 W-3 W-4 W-5
Air Force WO1[1] CWO2[1] CWO3[1] CWO4[1] CWO5[1]
Army WO1 CW2 CW3 CW4 CW5
Marine Corps WO1 CWO2 CWO3 CWO4 CWO5
Navy WO1[1] CWO2 CWO3 CWO4 CWO5
Coast Guard WO1[1] CWO2 CWO3 CWO4 [2]
Public Health Service [2] [2] [2] [2] [3]
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration		 [3] [3] [3] [3] [3]
[1] Grade inactive
[2] Grade is authorized for use by U.S. Code but has not been created
[3] Grade never created or authorized
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