Admiral (United States)

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Please see "Admiral" for other nations which use this rank

Admiral is a senior naval rank of the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. It is also commonly known as a "Four Star Admiral". It is the equivalent of a General in the United States Army and outranked by a Fleet Admiral. Because the "five star" and "six star" admiral ranks are reserved for war time use and special honors (George Dewey) respectively, the rank of a four-star admiral is considered to be the highest promotion possible in the United States Navy.

[edit] History

The United States Navy did not have any Admirals until 1862 because many people felt the title too reminiscent of royalty to be used in the country's navy. Others saw the need for ranks above Captain, among them John Paul Jones, who pointed out that the Navy had to have officers who "ranked" with Army Generals. He also felt there must be ranks above Captain to avoid disputes among senior Captains. The various secretaries of the Navy repeatedly recommended to Congress that Admiral ranks be created because the other navies of the world used them and American senior officers were "often subjected to serious difficulties and embarrassments in the interchange of civilities with those of other nations." Congress finally authorized nine Rear Admirals on July 16, 1862, although that was probably more for the needs of the rapidly expanding Navy during the American Civil War than any international considerations. Two years later Congress authorized the appointment of a Vice Admiral from among the nine Rear Admirals: David Farragut. Another bill allowed the President of the United States to appoint Farragut to full Admiral on July 25, 1866, and David Dixon Porter to Vice Admiral. When Farragut died in 1870 Porter became Admiral and Stephen C. Rowan Vice Admiral. Even after they died, Congress did not allow the promotion of any of the Rear Admirals to succeed them, so there were no more Admirals or Vice Admirals by promotion until 1915 when Congress authorized an Admiral and a Vice Admiral each for the Atlantic, Pacific and Asiatic fleets.

There was one Admiral in the interim, however. In 1899, Congress recognized George Dewey's accomplishments during the Spanish-American War by authorizing the President to appoint him Admiral of the Navy. He held that rank until he died in 1917. Nobody has since held that title. In 1944, Congress approved the five-star Fleet Admiral rank. The first to hold it were William D. Leahy, Ernest J. King, and Chester W. Nimitz. The Senate confirmed their appointments December 15, 1944. The fourth Fleet Admiral, William F. Halsey, got his fifth star in December 1945. None has been appointed since.

The sleeve stripes now used by Admirals and Vice Admirals in the United States date from March 11, 1869, when the Secretary of the Navy's General Order Number 90 specified that for their "undress" uniforms Admirals would wear a two-inch stripe with three half-inch stripes above it and Vice Admirals the two-inch stripe with two half-inch stripes above it. The Rear Admiral got his two-inch stripe and one half-inch stripe in 1866.

The sleeve stripes had been more elaborate. When the Rear Admiral rank started in 1862 the sleeve arrangement was three stripes of three-quarter-inch lace alternating with three stripes of quarter-inch lace. It was some ten inches from top to bottom. The Vice Admiral, of course, had even more stripes and when Farragut became Admiral in 1866 he had so many stripes they reached from his cuffs almost to his elbow. On their dress uniforms the admirals wore bands of gold embroidery of live oak leaves and acorns.

The admirals of the 1860s wore the same number of stars on their shoulders as admirals of corresponding grades do today. In 1899, the Navy's one Admiral (Dewey) and 18 Rear Admirals put on the new shoulder marks, as did the other officers when wearing their white uniforms, but kept their stars instead of repeating the sleeve cuff stripes.

During the 20th century, the ranks of the modern U.S. Admiralty were firmly established. An oddity that did exist was that the U.S. Navy did not have a one star rank except briefly during the Second World War and then not permanently until 1986. (See Commodore)

[edit] Current usage

The 21st century United States Navy and Coast Guard admiral ranks are as follows.

1. Admiral
2. Vice Admiral
3. Rear admiral Upper Half
4. Rear Admiral Lower Half

The rank of Fleet Admiral is still listed on U.S. Navy precedence charts but is not considered an active rank.

The Navy is authorized by law to have a maximum number of Admirals of all grades serving on active duty at any time. Only 15.7% of that number may rank higher than Rear Admiral (upper half), and of those, only 25% may rank as a full Admiral. This typically works out to about eight full Admirals. All of these limits may be waived during war or national emergency.

The Coast Guard is usually authorized to have only one full Admiral (four stars), which is held by the Commandant of the Coast Guard.

The Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Health, when a serving member of the USPHS Commissioned Corps, is also a full Admiral , and the Surgeon General of the United States is a Vice Admiral.

U.S. commissioned officer ranks
	Student Officer	O-1	O-2	O-3	O-4	O-5	O-6	O-7	O-8	O-9	O-10	O-11 (wartime only)	Special Grade
Navy:	MIDN/OC	ENS	LTJG	LT	LCDR	CDR	CAPT	RDML	RADM	VADM	ADM	FADM	Admiral of the Navy
Marine Corps:	Midn	2ndLt	1stLt	Capt	Maj	LtCol	Col	BGen	MajGen	LtGen	Gen	(no equivalent)	(no equivalent)
Army:	CDT/OC	2LT	1LT	CPT	MAJ	LTC	COL	BG	MG	LTG	GEN	General of the Army	General of the Armies
Air Force:	Cadet	2nd Lt	1st Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig Gen	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen	General of the Air Force	(no equivalent)
Coast Guard:	CDT	ENS	LTJG	LT	LCDR	CDR	CAPT	RDML	RADM	VADM	ADM	(no equivalent)	(no equivalent)

See also: U.S. Navy Officer Rank Insignia, List of United States four-star officers