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Flag of a Navy four-star admiral. The rank of admiral (or full admiral, or four-star admiral) is the highest rank normally achievable in the United States Navy. It ranks above vice admiral (three-star admiral) and below fleet admiral (five-star admiral). There have been 279 four-star admirals in the history of the U.S. Navy.
Admiral Arleigh Burke, the person with the longest tenure as Chief of Naval Operations, in a uniform with the post-1869 sleeve style. The United States Navy did not have any admirals until 1862, because many people felt the title too reminiscent of royalty—such as the British Royal Navy—to be used in the new nation's navy. [1]
Admiral of the Navy was the highest-possible rank in the United States Navy, prior to the creation of fleet admiral in 1944. The rank is considered to be at least equivalent to that of a five-star admiral, [ 2 ] with Admiral George Dewey being the only officer to be appointed to the rank.
However, the rank of fleet admiral still remains listed on official rank insignia precedence charts and, if needed, this rank could be reestablished at the discretion of Congress and the President. All five-star officers are, technically, unable to retire from active duty. [5] The last living fleet admiral, Chester W. Nimitz, died in 1966.
Fleet admiral [1] (abbreviated FADM) [2] is a five-star flag officer rank in the United States Navy whose rewards uniquely include active duty pay for life. [3] Fleet admiral ranks immediately above admiral and is equivalent to General of the Army and General of the Air Force. It is the same as the discontinued Admiral of the Navy.
The word "admiral" has come to be almost exclusively associated with the highest naval rank in most of the world's navies, equivalent to the army rank of general. However, this was not always the case; for example, in some European countries prior to the end of World War II , admiral was the third highest naval rank after general admiral and ...
In 1944 the Navy Department declared Dewey's rank to be senior to the then newly created five-star rank of fleet admiral. [citation needed] During the preparations for the invasion of Japan, a proposal was raised by the Navy Department to appoint Chester Nimitz to the rank of admiral of the Navy, or grant him some equivalent rank. [8]
As such, the rank of Admiral of the Navy continued to be inactive. By 1955, the Navy concluded that the rank was honorary. [4] And while they held to the belief that it was equivalent to General of the Armies, [4] the Navy amended its regulations to establish fleet admiral as its highest achievable rank, adhering to the standard set by the law.