Admiral of the Navy ( United States ) - wikipedia Admiral of the Navy ( United States ) Admiral of the Navy Insignia for Admiral of the Navy ( 1903 - 1917 ) Shoulderboard ( proposed ) Country United States of America Service branch United States Navy Rank Six - star NATO rank OF - 11 Non-NATO rank O - 12 Formation 1903 ( retroactive to 1899 ) Next lower rank Fleet admiral Equivalent ranks General of the Armies ( United States Armed Forces ) Common military ranks in English Navies Armies Air forces Commissioned and Non-commissioned officers Admiral of the fleet General of the Army 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 Flight cadet Enlisted grades Warrant officer or Chief petty officer Warrant officer or Sergeant major Warrant officer Petty officer Sergeant Sergeant Leading seaman Corporal Corporal Seaman Private or Trooper Aircraftman Talk View The Admiral of the Navy ( abbreviated as AN ) is the highest possible military rank in the United States Navy. The rank is intended as an `` admiralissimo '' type position which is senior to the rank of fleet admiral. The rank has only been awarded once, to George Dewey, in recognition of his victory at Manila Bay in 1898. The 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. 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. In 1944, upon the establishment of the five - star fleet admiral rank, the Navy stated that Dewey 's rank was senior but did not officially state it was a six - star rank. Six - star rank This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( July 2016 ) In 1944, with the establishment of the rank of 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 rank, and no comparison between the Admiral of the Navy, General of the Armies, and fleet admiral rank was ever announced. In 1981, upon the death of Omar Bradley, the United States House Committee on Armed Services inquired of the Institute of Heraldry as to the procedure should a Navy officer ever be awarded a six - star rank equivalent of General of the Armies. The response to Congress stated : Should an officer of the Air Force or Navy be promoted to six - star rank, that officer should be entitled to the six - star insignia with a service specific crest. While the Institute did not specifically mention the rank of Admiral of the Navy, a prototype shoulder board for a `` Navy six - star admiral '' was designed in sketch. This image was later made available through the Naval History and Heritage Command. The insignia did not address the sleeve stripe insignia for such a rank and only provided details for the shoulder boards typically worn on summer and full dress white uniforms. References Jump up ^ CHAP 378, `` An act creating the office of Admiral of the Navy '', United States Congress Jump up ^ Congressional Record 1981, Cong. 97 Sess. 1 -- Part 8, `` Promotion of other service branches to General of the Armies of the United States ''. 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 Insignia ( 2 ) Army CDT / OC 2LT 1LT CPT MAJ LTC COL BG MG LTG GEN GA GAS Marine Corps Midn / Cand 2ndLt 1stLt Capt Maj LtCol Col BGen MajGen LtGen Gen Navy MIDN / OC ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RDML RADM VADM ADM FADM AN Air Force Cadet / OT / OC 2d Lt 1st Lt Capt Maj Lt Col Col Brig Gen Maj Gen Lt Gen Gen GAF Coast Guard CDT / OC ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RDML RADM VADM ADM PHS Corps ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RADM RADM VADM ADM NOAA Corps OC ENS LTJG LT LCDR CDR CAPT RDML RADM VADM No universal insignia for officer candidate rank ; Navy candidate insignia shown Official 1945 proposal for General of the Armies insignia ; John J. Pershing 's GAS insignia : ; George Dewey 's Admiral of the Navy insignia : Rank used for specific officers in wartime only, not permanent addition to rank structure Grade is authorized by the U.S. Code for use but has not been created Grade has never been created or authorized USAF and U.S. Army insignia shown United States warrant officer ranks W - 1 W - 2 W - 3 W - 4 W - 5 Army WO1 CW2 CW3 CW4 CW5 Marine Corps WO1 CWO2 CWO3 CWO4 CWO5 Navy WO1 CWO2 CWO3 CWO4 CWO5 Air Force WO1 CWO2 CWO3 CWO4 CWO5 Coast Guard WO1 CWO2 CWO3 CWO4 PHS Corps NOAA Corps Grade inactive Grade is authorized for use by U.S. Code but has not been created Grade never created or authorized Highest military ranks General officer Flag officer Air officer Imperator Marshal of Italy Generalissimo Generalissimus of the Soviet Union Supreme Allied Commander Admiral of the Navy General of the Armies General of the Air Force Generalfeldmarschall Mareşal Marshal of the air force Marshal of the Soviet Union Marshal of the Russian Federation Mushir Magister militum Spahbed Ispahsalar Beylerbey Bojni Vojvoda Chom Thap Thai Constable of France Domestic of the Schools Grand Domestic Shogun Dux bellorum Grand marshal Hetman Jenderal besar Polemarch Reichsmarschall Federal General of Switzerland Sardar Serasker Autokrator First marshal of the empire Da yuan shuai Dai - gensui Taewonsu Yuan shuai Wonsu Marshal of Yugoslavia Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Admiral_of_the_Navy_(United_States)&oldid=789074399 '' Categories : Admirals Military ranks of the United States Navy Titles held only by one person Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from July 2016 All articles needing additional references Talk About Wikipedia Deutsch Français Italiano Bahasa Melayu Nederlands Русский Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 5 July 2017, at 05 : 34. 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Question: what is the rank of admiral in the navy
Answer: the highest possible