ADMIRAL, a great officer or magistrate, who has the government of a navy, and the hearing of all maritime causes.

Authors are divided with regard to the origin and denomination of this important officer. Sir Henry Spelman thinks that both the name and dignity were derived from the Saracens, and, by reason of the holy wars, brought amongst us; for admiral, in the Arabian language, signifies a prince, or chief ruler, and was the ordinary title of the governors of cities, provinces, &c.; and therefore they called the commander of the navy by that name, as a name of dignity and honour. Dueange assures us that the Sicilians were the first, and the Genoese the next, who gave the denomination of admiral to the commanders of their naval armaments; and that they took it from the Saracen or Arabie emir, a general name for every commanding officer. As for the exact time when the word was introduced among us, it is uncertain. Some think it was in the reign of Edward I. Sir Henry Spelman is of opinion that it was first used in the reign of Henry III. because neither the laws of Oleron, made in 1266, nor Braeton, who wrote about that time, make any mention of it. In the latter part of that reign, not only the historians, but the charters themselves, very frequently use the word admiral.

Anciently there were generally three or four admirals appointed for the English seas, all of them holding the office durante, beneplacito, and each of them having particular limits under his charge and government; as admirals of the fleet of ships from the mouth of the Thames, northward, southward, or westward. Besides these, there were admirals of the Cinque Ports. We sometimes find that one person had been admiral of the fleets to the southward, northward, and westward; but the title of Admiratis Angliae was not frequent till the reign of Henry IV. when the king’s brother had that title given him, which in all commissions afterwards was granted to the succeeding admirais. It may be observed, that there was a title above that of admiral of England, which was, locum tenens regis super mare, the king’s lieutenant-general of the sea: this title we find mentioned in the reign of Richard II. Before the use of the word admiral was known, the title of custos maris was made use of.

Of the rank of admiral there are three degrees; admiral, vice-admiral, rear-admiral. Each of these degrees consists of three divisions, which are distinguished by as many different colours or flags; hence all admirals assume the common title of flag-officers, and take rank and command in the following order :—
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Admirals of the Red, of die White, of the Blue Squadrons, bearing their respective flags at the main-top-gallantmast head; Vice-admirals of the Red, of the White, of the Blue Squadrons, bearing their respective flags at the fore-top-gallant-mast head; Rear-admirals of the Red, of the White, of the Blue Squadrons, bearing their respective flags at the mizen-top-gallant-mast head.

It may be remarked, that for a century nearly we had no Admiral of the Red Squadron; that flag, according to a vulgar error, having been taken from us by the Dutch in one of those arduous struggles for naval superiority wfiich that nation was once able to maintain against the naval power of England. But the fact is, the red flag was laid aside on the union of the two crowns of England and Scotland, when the Union flag was adopted in its place, and usually hoisted by the admiral commanding in chief. The red flag, however, has recently been revived, on an occasion worthy of the event; namely, on the promotion of naval officers which took place in November 1805, in consequence of the memorable victory off Trafalgar. See Navy. Admiral of the Fleet is a mere honorary distinction, which gives no command, but an increase of halfpay, his being three guineas a day, and that of an admiral two guineas. It is sometimes conferred, but not always, on the senior admiral on the list of naval officers, being held at present by his royal highness the duke of Clarence. If the admiral of the fleet should happen to serve afloat, he is authorized to carry the union flag at the main-top-gallant-mast head; which was the case when the duke of Clarence escorted Louis XVIII. across the Channel to take possession of the throne of France.

The comparative rank which flag-officers hold with officers in the army has been settled as follows by his Majesty’s order in council :—

The admiral and commander-in-chief of the fleet has the rank of a field-marshal in the army; admirals with flags at the main take rank with generals of horse and foot; vice-admirals with lieutenant-generals; rear-admirals with major-generals; commodores with broad pendants with brigadier-generals. See Navy. Admiral, the Lord High, of England, an ancient officer of high rank in the state, in whom not only the government of the navy is vested, but who, long before any regular navy existed in England, presided over a sovereign court, with authority to hear and determine all causes relating to the sea, and to take cognizance of all offences committed thereon.

There can be little doubt of the Asiatic origin of the name given to this officer, which does not appear to have been known in the languages of Europe before the time of the holy wars. Amir, in Arabic, is a chief or commander of forces; it is the same word as the ameer of the peninsula of India (as ameer al omrah, the chief of lords or princes), and the emir of the Turks or Saracens, who had, and still have, their emir or ameer'l dureea, commander of the sea; amir'l asker dureea, commander of the naval armament. The incorporation of the article with the noun appears, we believe, for the first time in the Annals of Eutychius, patriarch of Alexandria, in the tenth century, who calls the Caliph Omar Amiral munumim, seu, Imperator fidelium. Spelman says, “In regno Saracenorum quatuor praetores statuit, qui admiralli vocabantur.” The d is evidently impertinent, and is omitted by the French, who say Amiral. The Spanish write Almirante ; the Portuguese the same. Milton would seem to have been aware of the origin of die word, when he speaks of “the mast of some great Ammiral.” It is obvious, then, that the supposed derivations of α ∖ μυοος from the Greek, aumer from the French, and aen mereal from the Saxon, are fanciful and unauthorized etymologies.

The period of time about which this officer first makes his appearance in the governments of European nations, corroborates the supposition of its having been adopted in imitation of the Mediterranean powers, at the return of the Christian heroes from the holy wars. According to Moreri, Florent de Varenne, in the year 1270, was the first admiral known in France; but by the most approved writers of that nation, the title was unknown till, in 1284, Enguerand de Coussy was constituted Admiral. The first admiral by name that we know of in England was W. de Leybourne, who was appointed to that office by Edward I. in the year 1286, under the title of Admiral de la mer du Roy d' Angleterre. Mariana, in his History of Spain, says that Don Sancho, having resolved to make war on the barbarians (Moors), prepared a great fleet; and as the Genoese were at that time very powerful by sea, and experienced and dexterous sailors, he sent to Genoa to invite, with great offers, Benito Zacharias into his service; that he accepted those offers, and brought with him twelve ships; that the king named him his admiral (Almirante), and conferred on him the office for a limited time. This happened in the year 1284. Several Portuguese authors observe, that their office of Almirante was derived from the Genoese, who had it from the Sicilians, and these from the Saracens; and it appears, from Souza’s Historia Genealogica da Caza Real, that, in 1322, Micer Manuel Picagow was invited from Genoa into Portugal, and appointed to the office of Almirante, with a salary of three thousand pounds {livras) a year, and certain lands, &c. on condition that he should furnish, on his part, twenty men of Genoa, all experienced in sea affairs, and qualified to be alvaidis (captains) and arraises (masters) of ships: all of which terms, almirante, alcaidi, and arrais, are obviously of Arabic derivation.

Edward I. who began his reign in 1272, went to the Holy Land, and visited Sicily on his return. He must therefore have had an opportunity of informing himself concerning the military and naval science of the various countries bordering on the Mediterranean—an opportunity which so able and warlike a prince would not neglect; but whether the title and office of admiral existed in England before his time, as some are inclined to think, or whether W. de Leybourne was first created to that office in 1286, as before mentioned, we believe there is no authentic record to enable us to decide. Supposing him, however, to be the first, Edward may either have adopted the office and title from the Genoese, or the Sicilians, or the Spaniards, or the French; or even had it directly from the Saracens, against whom he had fought, and with whom he had afterwards much amicable intercourse. It would, seem, however, that the office was in Edward’s time merely honorary; for that monarch, in 1307, orders the lord mayor of London, at his peril and without delay, to provide a good ship, wéll equipped, to carry his pavilions and tents; and, in the same year, another order is addressed to the Vicecomxs Kantiae, to provide, for immediate passage across the seas, tot et tales pontes et claias as the constable of Dover Castle should demand, without one word being mentioned of the admiral. (Rymer, vol. iii. p. 32.)

From the 34th Edward II. we have a regular and uninterrupted succession of admirals. In that year he appointed Edward Charles Admiral of the North, from the mouth of the river Thames northward, and Gervase Allard Admiral of the West, from the mouth of the Thames westward; and these two admirals of the north and the [7:2:155]westwerecontinueddown to the 34th Edward III., when 'John de Beauchamp, lord warden of the Cinque Ports, constable of the Tower of London, and of the Castle of Dover, was constituted High Admiral of England; but nine years afterwards the office was again divided into north and west, and so continued until the 10th Richard IL, when Richard, son of Alain earl of Arundel, was appointed Admiral of England. Two years after this it was again divided as before; and in the 15th year of the same reign, Edward earl of Rutland and Cork, afterwards duke of Albemarle, was constituted High Admiral of the North and West; and after him the marquis of Dorset, and earl of Somerset, son of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster; then Percy earl of Winchester next succeeded to the same title, which once more was dropped in the 2d of Henry IV. and divided as before. But in the 6th of the same reign the office of Admiral of England became permanently vested in one person. In the 14th Henry VI. John Holland duke of Exeter was created Admiral of England, Ireland, and Aquitaine for life; and in the third year of Edward VI. John Dudley earl of Warwick was constituted High Admiral of England, Ireland, Wales, Calais, Boulogne, the marches of the same, Normandy, Gascony, and Aquitaine, also Captain-general of the navy and seas of the king, &c. In the 27th Elizabeth, Charles Lord Howard had all the aforesaid titles, with the addition of Captain-general of the navy and seas of the said kingdoms.

On the 20th November 1632, the office of high admiral was for the first time put in commission, all the great officers of state being the commissioners. During the Commonwealth, a committee of parliament managed the affairs of the admiralty. At the Restoration, in 1660, his royal highness James duke of York was constituted Lord High Admiral of England. The commission was revoked on the 22dMay 1684, and King Charles II. held the admiralty in his own hands, and managed it by the great officers of his privy council until his death. He took this occasion of reserving for his own use all the droits and perquisites claimed by the lord high admiral. King James II. declared himself in council Lord High Admiral and Lord General; and he managed the affairs of the admiralty and navy by Mr Secretary Pepys all the time of his reign. In the 1st William and Mary, the admiralty was again put in commission. In the 6th Anne (1707), his royal highness George prince of Denmark was appointed High Admiral of Great Britain (in consequence of the union of the two crowns), with a council to assist him; and at his death the queen acted in the office by Mr Burchett. On the 29th November 1708, it was again put in commission, or rather, the earl of Pembroke was constituted High Admiral, with a council to assist him; since which time the office of lord high admiral continued to be executed by lords commissioners of the admiralty, until the 2d of May 1827, when his royal highness the duke of Clarence was appointed Lord High Admiral, with a council of four members to assist him; in which office he continued to act, to the great satisfaction of the navy at large, until, at his own request, he was permitted by his Majesty to resign his high office, on the 19th September 1828, when it was again put in commission.

Prince George of Denmark, when lord high admiral, having surrendered, by a formal instrument, all the rights, profits, perquisites, and advantages whatsoever, appertaining to the office, for the benefit and use of the public, with the exception of the sum of L.2500 a year, to be disposed of in such manner, and for such particular uses, as her Majesty, under her sign manual,..should direct; the salary of the lord high admiral, which had hitherto been no more than 300 marks, was now fixed, by warrant under' privy seal, at L.7000 a year; which sum, by 1st George II. was divided equally among seven commissioners, and continued to be so down to the present time, the part of the commissioner who stood first in the patent having, however, been made up from other funds to L.3000 a year, and, in the year 1806, further increased by Lord Howick, then first lord commissioner, to L.5000 a year. Since the surrender above mentioned; all the droits of admiralty, as they are called, with all the fees, emoluments, perquisites, &c. whatsoever, have been taken from the admiral, and applied to public purposes.

These droits and perquisites are by no means inconsiderable. As enumerated in the patent, they consist of flotson, jetson, lagon, treasure, deodands, derelicts, found within his jurisdiction; all goods picked up at sea; all fines, forfeitures, ransoms, recognizances, and pecuniary punishments; all sturgeons, whales, porpusses, dolphins, rigs, and grampusses, and all such large fishes; all ships and goods of the enemy coming into any creek, road, or port, by stress of weather, mistake, or ignorance of the war; all ships seized at sea, salvage, &c. together with his shares of prizes; which shares were afterwards called tenths, in imitation probably of the French, who gave their admiral, for supporting the dignity of bis office, son droit de dixième. All prizes are now wholly given up by the crown to the captors, and such share of the droits as from circumstances may be thought proper. The lord high admiral also claimed, and enjoyed as his due, the cast ships; and the subordinate officers of the navy, as their perquisites, all other decayed and unserviceable stores.

Though by act of 2d William and Mary the lords commissioners of the admiralty are vested with all and singular authorities, jurisdictions, and powers, which have been and. are vested, settled, and placed in the lord high admiral of England for the time being, to all intents and purposes, as if the said commissioners were lord high admiral of England; yet there is this remarkable difference in the two patents by which they are constituted, that the patent of the lord high admiral mentions very little of the military part of his office, but chiefly details his judicial duties as a magistrate; whilst, on the contrary, the patent to the lords commissioners of the admiralty is very particular in directing them to govern the affairs of the navy, and is almost wholly silentas to their judicial powers.

These powers, as set forth in the patent to the carl of Pembroke in 1701, are, the power to act by deputy; to take cognizance of all causes, civil ∣ and maritime, within his jurisdiction; to arrest goods and persons; to preserve public streams, ports, rivers, fresh waters, and creeks whatsoever, within his jurisdiction, as well for the preservation of the ships, as of the fishes; to reform too straight nets, and unlawful engines, and punish offenders; to arrest ships, mariners, pilots, masters, gunners, bombardiers, and any other persons whatsoever, able and fit for the service of the ships, as often as occasion shall require, and wheresoever they shall be met with; to appoint vice-admirals judges, and other officers, durante beneplacito ; to remove, suspend, of expel them, and put others in their places, as he shall see occasion; to take cognizance of civil and maritime laws, and of death, murder, and maim.

It was by no means necessary that the lord high admiral should be a professional man. Henry VIII. made his natural son, the duke of Richmond, lord high admiral of England, when he was but six years old. When the high admiral, however, went to sea in person, he had [7:2:156]usually a commission under the great seal, appointing him Admiral and Captain-general of the fleet, sometimes with powers to confer knighthood, and generally to punish with life and limb. Such a commission was granted by Henry VIII. to Sir Edward Howard, who executed indenture with the king to furnish 3000 men, 18 captains, 1750 soldiers, 1232 mariners and gunners; the pay of himself to be 10s. a day, of a captain Is. 6d., of the rest 5s. as wages, and 5s. for victuals each man, for twenty-eight days, together with certain dead shares.

It appears, from Mr Pepys’s Naval Collections, that the lord high admiral did anciently wear, on solemn occasions, a gold whistle, set with precious stones, hanging at the end of a gold chain. The whistle, it would seem, has long since descended to the boatswain and his mates, (μ.) ADMIRAL, Lord High, of Scotland, one of the great officers of the crown, and supreme judge in all maritime cases within that part of Britain.

. Admiral is also an appellation given to the most considerable ship of a fleet of merchantmen, or of the vessels employed in the cod fishery of Newfoundland. This last has the privilege of choosing what place he pleases on the shore to dry his fish; gives proper orders, and appoints the fishing places to those who come after him; and as long as the fishing season continues, he carries a flag on his main-mast.

Admiral, in Conchology, the English name of a species of the voluta, a shell-fish belonging to the order of vermes testacea.