Vice admiral

Navies Armies Air forces
Commissioned officers
Admiral of
the fleet
Marshal or
Field marshal
Marshal of
the air force
Admiral General Air chief marshal
Vice admiral Lieutenant general Air marshal
Rear admiral Major general Air vice-marshal
Commodore Brigadier or
Brigadier general
Air commodore
Captain Colonel Group captain
Commander Lieutenant colonel Wing commander
Lieutenant
commander
Major or
Commandant
Squadron leader
Lieutenant Captain Flight lieutenant
Sub-lieutenant Lieutenant or
First lieutenant
Flying officer
Ensign Second
lieutenant
Pilot officer
Midshipman Officer cadet Officer cadet
Enlisted grades
Chief petty officer or
Warrant officer
Sergeant major or
Warrant officer
Warrant officer
Petty officer Sergeant Sergeant
Leading seaman Corporal Corporal
Seaman Private Aircraftman
Naval officer ranks
Flag officers:

Admiral of the fleet • Fleet admiral • Grand admiral
AdmiralGeneral admiral
Vice admiralSquadron vice-admiralLieutenant admiral
Rear admiralCounter admiralDivisional admiral
CommodoreFlotilla admiral

Senior officers:

CaptainCapt at seaCapt of sea and warShip-of-the-line Capt
CommanderFrigate captain
Lieutenant commanderCorvette captain

Junior officers:

Captain lieutenantLieutenantShip-of-the-line lieutenant
Frigate lieutenantLieutenant (junior grade)Sub-lieutenant
Corvette lieutenantEnsign
Midshipman

Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. In many navies,[1] vice admiral is a three-star rank with a NATO code of OF-8, although in some navies like the French Navy it is an OF-7 rank, the OF-8 code corresponding to the four-star rank of squadron vice-admiral.

Rank insignia

The rank insignia for a vice admiral often involves three stars, but this is not always the case. In the navy of Iraq, vice admiral insignia involves one star.[2] In the navies of Azerbaijan,[3] Bangladesh,[4] China,[5] Cuba,[6] Iran,[7] Mexico,[8] North Korea,[9] and Russia, vice admiral insignia involves two stars, and in the navy of Turkey, vice admiral insignia involves four stars.[10]

Gallery

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference 3star was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

Australia

In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vice admiral is held by the Chief of Navy and, when the positions are held by navy officers, by the Vice Chief of the Defence Force, the Chief of Joint Operations, and/or the Chief of Capability Development Group.

Vice admiral is the equivalent of air marshal in the Royal Australian Air Force and lieutenant general in the Australian Army.

Canada

In the Royal Canadian Navy, the rank of vice-admiral (VAdm) (vice-amiral or Vam in French) is equivalent to lieutenant-general of the Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force. A vice-admiral is a flag officer, the naval equivalent of a general officer. A vice-admiral is senior to a rear-admiral and major general, and junior to an admiral and general.

The rank insignia of a Canadian vice-admiral is as follows:

Two rows of gold oak leaves are located on the black visor of the white service cap. From 1968 to June 2010, the navy blue service dress tunic featured only a wide gold braid around the cuff with three gold maple leaves, beneath crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by a St. Edward's Crown located on cloth shoulder straps.

Vice-admirals are addressed by rank and name; thereafter by subordinates as "Sir" or "Ma'am". Vice-admirals are normally entitled to a staff car; the car will normally bear a flag, dark blue with three gold maple leaves arranged one over two.

A vice-admiral generally holds only the most senior command or administrative appointments, barring only Chief of Defence Staff, which is held by a full admiral or general. Appointments held by vice-admirals may include:

Charles, Prince of Wales holds the honorary rank of vice admiral in the Royal Canadian Navy.[11]

France

In France, vice-amiral is the most senior of the ranks in the French Navy; higher ranks, vice-amiral d'escadre and amiral, are permanent functions, style and position (in French rang et appellation) given to a vice-amiral-ranking officer. The vice-amiral rank used to be an OF-8 rank in NATO charts, but nowadays, it is more an OF-7 rank.

The rank of vice-amiral d'escadre (literally, "squadron vice-admiral", with more precision, "fleet vice-admiral") equals a NATO OF-8 rank.

In the ancien régime Navy, between 1669 and 1791. The office of "Vice-Admiral of France" (Vice-amiral de France) was the highest rank, the supreme office of "Admiral of France" being purely ceremonial.

Distinct offices were :

Germany

Main article: Vizeadmiral
Pennant of a German Vizeadmiral

Vizeadmiral is an OF-8 three-star rank equivalent to the German Heer and Luftwaffe rank of Generalleutnant.

India

In India, vice admiral is a three star admiral.

Italy

In Italy, the equivalent to vice admiral is the ammiraglio di squadra.

Philippines

In the Philippines, the rank vice admiral is the highest-ranking official of the Philippine Navy. He is recognized as the flag officer in-charge of the Navy. The rank vice-admiral in the Philippines, has the same ranking in the U.S Navy.

United Kingdom

In the Royal Navy the rank of vice-admiral should be distinguished from the office of "Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom", which is an Admiralty position usually held by a retired "full" admiral, and that of "Vice-Admiral of the Coast", a now obsolete office dealing with naval administration in each of the maritime counties.

United States

Vietnam

In Vietnam, the equivalent to vice admiral is the phó đô đốc.

Notes

  1. Vice admiral is a three-star rank in the navies of NATO and Commonwealth countries, including (since 2001) the Royal Navy. (Refer UK DCI (Joint Service) 125/2001)
  2. "Navy of Iraq - Vice Admiral".
  3. "Navy of Azerbaijan - Vice Admiral".
  4. "Navy of Bangladesh - Vice Admiral".
  5. "Navy of China - Vice Admiral".
  6. "Navy of Cuba - Vice Admiral".
  7. "Navy of Iran - Vice Admiral".
  8. "Navy of Mexico - Vice Admiral".
  9. "Navy of North Korea - Vice Admiral".
  10. "Navy of Turkey - Vice Admiral".
  11. Deachman, Bruce; McCulloch, Sandra (9 November 2009), "Royals arrive in Ottawa in final leg of cross-Canada tour", Ottawa Citizen, retrieved 10 November 2009

See also