Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)

Admiral of the Fleet is a five-star naval officer rank and the highest rank of the Royal Navy, formally established in 1688. The five-star NATO rank code is OF-10, equivalent to a field marshal in the British Army or a Marshal of the Royal Air Force. Apart from honorary appointments, no new admirals of the fleet have been named since 1995, and no honorary appointments have been made since 2014.
==History==
The origins of the rank can be traced back to John de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp de Warwick, who was appointed 'Admiral of the King's Southern, Northern and Western Fleets' on 18 July 1360. The appointment gave the command of the English navy to one person for the first time; this evolved into the post of Admiral of the Fleet. In the days of sailing ships the admiral distinctions then used by the Royal Navy included distinctions related to the fleet being divided into three divisions – red, white, or blue. Each division was assigned at least one admiral, who in turn commanded a number of vice-admirals and rear admirals. While the full admirals were nominally equals, tradition gave precedence to the Admiral of the White who held the fleet rank in addition to his substantive role.
===Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries===
The Restoration era brought a general reorganisation of naval ranks and structure, including formalisation of the admiral of the fleet role. In a break with tradition the rank was awarded to the most senior Admiral of the Red, who retained this substantive rank while also serving as Admiral of the Fleet. Appointments were for life, remunerated via a £5 daily stipend and an annual allowance of £1,014 for the hiring and maintenance of servants. It was intended that only one officer would hold the rank at any time, with their presence aboard any naval vessel to be denoted by the flying of the Royal Standard from the main mast.
The ranks of Admiral of the Fleet and Admiral of the Red were formally separated from 1805, with an announcement in the London Gazette that "His Majesty [has] been pleased to order the Rank of Admirals of the Red to be restored"The Dictionary of National Biography (Volume 20, page 394) says of James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier that he "seems to have been as ignorant of naval history as careless of naval prestige, and must be considered one of the chief of the perpetrators of the official blunder which, in the warrant of 9 Nov. 1805 appointing admirals of the red, spoke of the rank as restored to the navy, whereas, in point of fact, it had never previously existed." in His Majesty's Navy..." as a separate role. The same Gazette promoted 22 men to that rank. From the nineteenth century onward there were also occasional variations to the previous requirement that only one Admiral of Fleet could serve at one time. In 1821 George IV appointed Sir John Jervis as a second admiral of the fleet, to balance the Duke of Wellingtons promotion as a second Field Marshal in the British Army. In 1830 King William IV increased the number of admirals of the fleet to three, though these additional lifetime postings subsequently lapsed. Between 1854 and 1857 there was no admiral of the fleet at all as the most senior naval officer of the time Admiral of the Red Thomas Le Marchant Gosselin was mentally ill and had not served at sea for forty-five years. In deference to Gosselin's seniority the position was instead left vacant until his death in 1857, whereupon it was filled by Admiral Charles Ogle.
===Twentieth century===
The organisation of the British fleet into coloured squadrons was abandoned in 1864, though the rank of admiral of the fleet was maintained. The title of First Naval Lord was renamed First Sea Lord in 1904.
During the two World Wars a number of serving officers held active commissions as admirals of the fleet, as well as the First Sea Lorde.g. Sir John Tovey.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was created an Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal New Zealand Navy in 1954, following the coronation of his wife Elizabeth II as Queen. This promotion was to a New Zealand rank, separate from the Royal Navy rank.
Following the creation of the Chief of the Defence Staff in 1959, the five naval officers appointed to that position became admirals of the fleet. Recognizing the reduced post–Cold War size of the British Armed Forces, no further appointments were made to the rank after 1995 when Sir Benjamin Bathurst was appointed admiral of the fleet on his retirement as First Sea Lord. The rank was not abolished and in 2012 the Prince of Wales (now King Charles III) became an honorary admiral of the fleet (as well as field marshal and marshal of the Royal Air Force), in recognition of his support to Queen Elizabeth II in her role of as Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces. In 2014, Lord Boyce, a former First Sea Lord and Chief of the Defence Staff, was also appointed an honorary admiral of the fleet.
==Admirals of the Fleet==
Appointed	Image 	Name 	Born	Died 	Notes 	Reference
 	 	(later The Lord Dartmouth) 	1647	1691 	 	
 	 	(later The Earl of Orford) 	1652	1727 	 	
 	 	 	1650	1709 	circa 	
 	 	 	1650	1707 	 	
 	 	Leake JohnSir John Leake 	1656	1720 	 	
 	 	Fairborne StaffordSir Stafford Fairborne 	1666	1742 	circa 	
 	 	Aylmer MatthewSir Matthew Aylmer(later The Lord Aylmer) 	1650	1720 	 	
 	 	Byng GeorgeSir George Byng(later The Viscount Torrington) 	1663	1733 	 	
 	 	Norris JohnSir John Norris 	1670	1749 	 	Heathcote, p. 197.
 	100px 	Ogle ChallonerSir Chaloner Ogle 	1681	1750 	 	
 	 	Steuart JamesJames Steuart 	1690	1757 	 	Heathcote p. 236.
 	 	Clinton GeorgeGeorge Clinton 	1686	1761 	 	Heathcote, p. 45.
 	 	AnsonThe Lord Anson 	1697	1762 	 	
 	 	Rowley WilliamSir William Rowley 	1690	1768 	circa 	
 	 	Hawke EdwardSir Edward Hawke(later The Lord Hawke) 	1705	1781 	 	Heathcote, p. 109.
 	 	Luke O'KeefeJohn Forbes 	1714	1796 	 	Heathcote, p. 87.
 	 	HoweThe Earl Howe 	1726	1799 	 	
 	100px 	Parker PeterSir Peter Parker, Bt. 	1721	1811 	 	Heathcote, p. 271.
 	100px 	Clarence and Saint AndrewsKing William IV 	1765	1837 	Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom 1827–1828 appointed at that time as The Duke of Clarence and St Andrews 	
 	 	Saint VincentThe Earl of St Vincent 	1735	1823 	acting from May 1814 	
 	 	Williams-Freeman WilliamWilliam Williams-Freeman 	1742	1832 	 	
 	 	GambierThe Lord Gambier 	1756	1833 	 	
 	 	Pole CharlesSir Charles Pole, Bt. 	1757	1830 	 	
 	100px 	Nugent CharlesSir Charles Nugent 	1759	1844 	 	
 	 	Hawkins-Whitshed JamesSir James Hawkins-Whitshed 	1762	1849 	 	
 	 	Martin GeorgeSir George Martin 	1764	1847 	 	
 	 	Martin ThomasSir Thomas Byam Martin 	1773	1854 	 	
 	 	Cockburn GeorgeSir George Cockburn(later the Cockburn Baronet) 	1772	1853 	 	
 	 	Ogle CharlesSir Charles Ogle, Bt. 	1775	1858 	 	
 	100px 	West JohnSir John West 	1774	1862 	 	
 	 	Gage WilliamSir William Gage 	1777	1864 	 	
 	 	Hamond GrahamSir Graham Hamond, Bt. 	1779	1862 	 	
 	 	Austen FrancisSir Francis Austen 	1774	1865 	 	
 	 	Parker WilliamSir William Parker, Bt. 	1781	1866 	 	
 	 	Curtis LuciusSir Lucius Curtis 	1786	1869 	 	
 	 	Cochrane ThomasSir Thomas Cochrane 	1789	1872 	 	
 	 	Seymour GeorgeSir George Seymour 	1787	1870 	 	
 	 	Gordon JamesSir James Gordon 	1782	1869 	on the Retired List 	
 	100px 	Bowles WilliamSir William Bowles 	1780	1869 	 	
 	100px 	Sartorious GeorgeSir George Sartorius 	1790	1885 	 	
 	 	Moresby FairfaxSir Fairfax Moresby 	1786	1877 	 	
 	100px 	Stewart HoustonSir Houston Stewart 	1791	1875 	 	
 	 	Wallis ProvoSir Provo Wallis 	1791	1892 	 	
 	 	Codrington HenrySir Henry Codrington 	1808	1877 	 	
 	 	Keppel HenrySir Henry Keppel 	1809	1904 	 	
 	 	LauderdaleThe Earl of Lauderdale 	1803	1878 	 	
 	100px 	Mundy RodneySir Rodney Mundy 	1805	1884 	 	
 	 	Hope JamesSir James Hope 	1808	1881 	 	
 	 	Symonds ThomasSir Thomas Symonds 	1813	1894 	 	
 	 	Milne AlexanderSir Alexander Milne, Bt. 	1806	1896 	on the Retired List 	
 	 	Elliot CharlesSir Charles Elliot 	1818	1895 	 	
 	 	Ryder AlfredSir Alfred Ryder 	1820	1888 	 	
 	 	WalesKing Edward VII 	1841	1910 	Honorary appointment to non-Navy royalty and at that time The Prince of Wales 	Heathcote, p. 68.
 	 	Hornby GeoffreySir Geoffrey Hornby 	1825	1895 	 	
 	 	Hay JohnLord John Hay 	1827	1916 	First Sea Lord 1886 	
 	 	William IIEmperor William II 	1859	1941 	Honorary, to foreign royalty 	Heathcote, p. 261.
 	 	Commerell JohnSir John Commerell 	1829	1901 	 	
 	 	EdinburghThe Duke of Edinburgh(later The Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) 	1844	1900 	 	Heathcote, p. 10.
 	 	ClanwilliamThe Earl of Clanwilliam 	1832	1907 	 	
 	100px 	Lyons AlgernonSir Algernon Lyons 	1833	1908 	 	
 	 	Richards FrederickSir Frederick Richards 	1833	1912 	First Sea Lord 1893–1899 	
 	100px 	Salmon NowellSir Nowell Salmon 	1835	1912 	 	
 	 	Erskine JamesSir James Erskine 	1838	1911 	 	
 	 	Hotham CharlesSir Charles Hotham 	1843	1925 	 	
 	 	Kerr WalterLord Walter Kerr 	1839	1927 	First Sea Lord 1899–1904 	
 	 	Seymour EdwardSir Edward Seymour 	1840	1929 	 	
 	 	Fisher JohnSir John Fisher(later The Lord Fisher) 	1841	1920 	First Sea Lord 1905–1910 and 1914–1915 	
 	 	Wilson ArthurSir Arthur Wilson 	1842	1921 	First Sea Lord 1910–1911 	
 	 	Nicholas IIHIM Tsar Nicholas II of Russia 	1868	1918 	Honorary, to foreign royalty 	Heathcote, p. 192.
 	 	Noel GerardSir Gerard Noel 	1845	1918 	 	
 	 	Heinrich of PrussiaPrince Henry of Prussia 	1862	1929 	Honorary, to foreign royalty 	Heathcote, p. 113.
 	 	Fanshawe ArthurSir Arthur Fanshawe 	1847	1936 	 	
 	George V	King George V 	1865	1936 	 	Heathcote, p. 98.
 	 	May WilliamSir William May 	1849	1930 	 	
 	 	Meux HedworthSir Hedworth Meux 	1856	1929 	 	
 	 	Callaghan GeorgeSir George Callaghan 	1852	1920 	 	
 	 	JellicoeThe Viscount Jellicoe(later The Earl Jellicoe) 	1859	1935 	First Sea Lord 1916–1918 	
 	 	Beatty DavidSir David Beatty(later The Earl Beatty) 	1871	1936 	First Sea Lord 1919–1927 	
 	 	Jackson HenrySir Henry Jackson 	1855	1929 	First Sea Lord 1915–1916 	
 	 	Wemyss RosslynSir Rosslyn Wemyss(later The Lord Wester Wemyss) 	1864	1933 	First Sea Lord 1918–1919 	
 	 	Burney CecilSir Cecil Burney(later the Burney baronet) 	1858	1929 	 	
 	 	Sturdee DovetonSir Doveton Sturdee, Bt. 	1859	1925 	 	
 	 	Milford HavenThe Marquess of Milford Haven 	1854	1921 	First Sea Lord 1912–1914. On the Retired List 	Order in Council of 19 August 1921; ADM 196/38.
 	 	Madden CharlesSir Charles Madden, Bt. 	1862	1935 	First Sea Lord 1927–1930 	
 	 	Calthorpe SomersetSir Somerset Gough-Calthorpe 	1864	1937 	 	
 	 	de Robeck JohnSir John de Robeck, Bt. 	1862	1928 	 	
 	 	Oliver HenrySir Henry Oliver 	1865	1965 	 	
 	 	Brock OsmondSir Osmond Brock 	1869	1947 	 	
 	 	Keyes RogerSir Roger Keyes, Bt.(later The Lord Keyes) 	1872	1945 	 	
 	 	Field FrederickSir Frederick Field 	1871	1945 	First Sea Lord 1930–1933 	
 	 	Tyrwhitt ReginaldSir Reginald Tyrwhitt, Bt. 	1870	1951 	 	
 	 	Chatfield ErnleSir Ernle Chatfield(later The Lord Chatfield) 	1873	1967 	First Sea Lord 1933–1938 	
 	 	Edward VIIIKing Edward VIII 	1894	1972 	 	Heathcote, p. 69.
 	 	Kelly JohnSir John Kelly 	1871	1936 	 	
 	 	George VIKing George VI 	1895	1952 	 	Heathcote, p. 99.
 	 	CorkThe Earl of Cork and Orrery 	1873	1967 	 	
 	 	Backhouse RogerSir Roger Backhouse 	1878	1939 	First Sea Lord 1938–1939 	Heathcote, p. 21.
 	 	Pound DudleySir Dudley Pound 	1877	1943 	First Sea Lord 1939–1943 	
 	100px 	Forbes CharlesSir Charles Forbes 	1880	1960 	 	
 	 	Cunningham AndrewSir Andrew Cunningham(later The Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope)	1883	1963 	First Sea Lord 1943–1946 	Heathcote, p. 60.
 	 	Tovey JohnSir John Tovey(later The Lord Tovey) 	1885	1971 	 	
 	 	Somerville JohnSir James Somerville 	1882	1949 	 	Heathcote, p. 233.
 	 	Cunningham JohnSir John Cunningham 	1885	1965 	First Sea Lord 1946–1948 	
 	100px 	Fraser of North CapeThe Lord Fraser of North Cape 	1888	1981 	First Sea Lord 1948–1951 	Heathcote, p. 90.
 	 	Willis AlgernonSir Algernon Willis 	1889	1976 	 	
 	 	Power ArthurSir Arthur Power 	1889	1960 	 	
 	 	Vian PhilipSir Philip Vian 	1894	1968 	 	
 	 	EdinburghThe Duke of Edinburgh 	1921	2021 	Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom 2011–2021 	Heathcote, p. 210.
 	 	McGrigor RhoderickSir Rhoderick McGrigor 	1893	1959 	First Sea Lord 1951–1955 	Heathcote, p. 162.
 	 	Creasy GeorgeSir George Creasy 	1895	1972 	 	
 	 	Mountbatten of BurmaThe Earl Mountbatten of Burma 	1900	1979 	First Sea Lord 1955–1959Chief of the Defence Staff 1959–1965 	
 	 	Lambe CharlesSir Charles Lambe 	1900	1960 	First Sea Lord 1959–1960 	
 	 	John CasparSir Caspar John 	1903	1984 	First Sea Lord 1960–1963 	
 	 	Begg VarylSir Varyl Begg 	1908	1995 	First Sea Lord 1966–1968 	Heathcote, p. 29.
 	 	Le Fanu MichaelSir Michael Le Fanu 	1913	1970 	First Sea Lord 1968–1970 	
 	 	Hill-Norton PeterSir Peter Hill-Norton(later The Lord Hill-Norton) 	1915	2004 	First Sea Lord 1970–1971Chief of the Defence Staff 1971–1973 	
 	 	Pollock MichaelSir Michael Pollock 	1916	2006 	First Sea Lord 1971–1974 	
 	 	Ashmore EdwardSir Edward Ashmore 	1919	2016 	First Sea Lord 1974–1977Chief of the Defence Staff 1977 	
 	 	Lewin TerenceSir Terence Lewin(later The Lord Lewin) 	1920	1999 	First Sea Lord 1977–1979Chief of the Defence Staff 1979–1982 	
 	 	Leach HenrySir Henry Leach 	1923	2011 	First Sea Lord 1979–1982 	
 	 	Fieldhouse JohnSir John Fieldhouse(later The Lord Fieldhouse) 	1928	1992 	First Sea Lord 1982–1985Chief of the Defence Staff 1985–1988 	Heathcote, p. 78.
 	 	King Olav V of Norway 	1903	1991 	Honorary, to foreign royalty 	
 	 	Staveley WilliamSir William Staveley 	1928	1997 	First Sea Lord 1985–1989 	Heathcote, p. 235.
 	 	Oswald JulianSir Julian Oswald 	1933	2011 	First Sea Lord 1989–1993 	
 	 	Bathhurst BenjaminSir Benjamin Bathurst 	1936	Living	First Sea Lord 1993–1995 	Heathcote, p. 23.
 	 	WalesKing Charles III 	1948	Living	Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom since 2022Honorary appointment and at that time The Prince of WalesAssumed the rank in full capacity on the day following accession to the throne.	
 	 	Boyce MichaelThe Lord Boyce 	1943	2022 	First Sea Lord 1998–2001Chief of the Defence Staff 2001–2003. Honorary rank 	
==See also==
* Admiral of the fleet as used in other countries
* British ensigns
* British and U.S. military ranks compared
* Coloured squadrons of the Royal Navy
* Comparative military ranks
* First Sea Lord
* Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom
* Royal Navy officer rank insignia
==References==
===Sources===
* 
== External links ==
* 
Category:Admirals
F
Royal Navy
Category:Military ranks of the Royal Navy
*
Category:Five-star officers