Flag Admiral

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Flag Admiral was a proposed rank of the United States Navy during the last year of World War II. It is considered "unofficially" as a six star Admiral rank, the equivalent to the rank of General of the Armies in the United States Army.

[edit] U.S. Navy

As preparations grew for the invasion of Japan, the United States Navy Department proposed creating a six star Admiral rank equivalent to the former title of Admiral of the Navy. Chester Nimitz was to be promoted to the new rank, which would be referred to as "Flag Admiral". In the new rank, Nimitz was to serve as the Naval component commander for the invasion of the Japanese home islands. After the dropping of the atomic bomb, however, the proposal to create a six star Admiral rank was abandoned by the U.S. Navy.

U.S. Naval tradition holds that the rank Admiral of the Navy is considered senior to that of Fleet Admiral. The only person to ever hold the rank of Admiral of the Navy was George Dewey. Because of this, the U.S. rank of Admiral of the Navy could be considered an equivalent to Flag Admiral.

[edit] Science Fiction

The rank of Flag Admiral has also appeared in several science fiction sources, most notably Star Trek where the rank of Flag Admiral is the highest possible Starfleet rank.

While an actual Starfleet Flag Admiral has never appeared on camera, the rank has been mentioned in several novels and Star Trek magazines and technical manuals. Even so, the rank is considered conjectural with the highest "official" Starfleet rank being that of Fleet Admiral.

[edit] Source

• United States Naval service record of Chester Nimitz, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Missouri
• Klingon Covert Operations Manual, published c. 1987