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Royal Navy Insignia

Shoulder board

The flag of an Admiral of the Fleet is the Union Flag, and is in 1:2 rather than the 2:3 of other admirals' flags.^[1]

Admiral of the Fleet is a rank of the British Royal Navy and other navies, equating to the NATO rank code OF-10.

The rank evolved from the ancient sailing days of the Royal Navy. The fleet was divided into three divisions and each designated a colour, that of Red, White, or Blue. Each coloured division was assigned an Admiral, who in turn had command over a Vice-Admiral and a Rear Admiral. The Admiral of the Fleet, therefore, commanded the Admirals of the various divisions and thus, the entirety of the Fleet.

Between 1795 and 1827 the head of the Royal Navy was known as the Admiral of the Fleet, a position later given the name First Sea Lord

Routine appointments to the rank (and its equivalents in the other British services) ceased in 1996; however, it does still exist and those who have already been appointed are unaffected by this cessation.

Admiral of the Fleet is a 5 star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-10, equivalent to a Marshal of the Royal Air Force or a Field Marshal in the British Army.

Admiral of the Fleet is also used as a title in some of the world's militaries for the most senior officer of the fleet or Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. In the German Kriegsmarine of the Second World War, the equivalent rank was Grand Admiral.

• 1690 - Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford (1652–1727)
• 1696 - Sir George Rooke (c. 1650–1709)
• 13 January 1705 - Sir Cloudesley Shovell (1650–1707)
• 21 December 1708 - Sir Stafford Fairborne (c. 1666–1742)
• 14 March 1718 - George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington (1663–1733)
• 20 February 1734 - Sir John Norris (1670–1749)
• 1 July 1749 - Sir Chaloner Ogle (1681–1750)
• 22 November 1751 - James Steuart (1690–1757)
• March 1757 - George Clinton (1686–1761)
• 30 July 1761 - George Anson, 1st Baron Anson (1697–1762)
• 17 December 1762 - Sir William Rowley (c. 1690–1768)
• 15 January 1768 - Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke (1705–1781)
• 24 October 1781 - John Forbes (1714–1796)
• 12 March 1796 - Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe (1726–1799)
• 16 September 1799 - Sir Peter Parker, 1st Baronet (1721–1811)
• 24 December 1811 - HRH Prince William, 1st Duke of Clarence (1765–1837)
• 19 July 1821 - John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent (1735–1823)
• 28 June 1830 - William Williams-Freeman (1742–1832)
• 22 July 1830 - James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier (1756–1833)
• 22 July 1830 - Sir Charles Morice Pole, 1st Baronet (1757–1830)
• 24 April 1833 - Sir Charles Nugent (1759–1844)
• 8 January 1844 - Sir James Whitshed (1762–1849)
• 9 November 1846 - Sir George Martin (1764–1847)
• 13 October 1849 - Sir Thomas Martin (1773–1854)
• 1 July 1851 - Sir George Cockburn (1772–1853)
• 8 December 1857 - Sir Charles Ogle, 2nd Baronet (1775–1858)
• 25 June 1858 - Sir John West (1774–1862)
• 20 May 1862 - Sir William Hall Gage (1777–1864)
• 10 November 1862 - Sir Graham Eden Hamond, 2nd Baronet (1779–1862)
• 27 April 1863 - Sir Francis Austen (1774–1865)
• 27 April 1863 - Sir William Parker, 1st Baronet (1781–1866)
• 11 January 1864 - Sir Lucius Curtis, 2nd Baronet (1786–1869)
• 12 September 1865 - Sir Thomas John Cochrane (1789–1872)
• 30 November 1866 - Sir George Seymour (1787–1870)
• 30 January 1868 - Sir James Alexander Gordon (1782–1869)
• 15 January 1869 -Sir William Bowles (1780–1869)
• 3 July 1869 - Sir George Sartorius (1790–1885)
• 21 January 1870 - Sir Fairfax Moresby (1786–1877)
• 20 October 1872 - Sir Houston Stewart (1791–1875)
• 22 January 1877 - Sir Henry Codrington (1808–1877)
• 5 August 1877 - Sir Henry Keppel (1809–1904)
• 11 December 1877 - Sir Provo Wallis (1791–1892)
• 27 December 1877 - Thomas Maitland, 11th Earl of Lauderdale (1803–1878)
• 27 December 1877 - Sir George Mundy (1805–1884)
• 15 June 1879 - Sir James Hope (1808–1881)
• 15 July 1879 - Sir Thomas Symonds (1813–1894)
• 10 June 1881 - Sir Alexander Milne (1806–1896)
• 1 December 1881 - Sir Charles Elliot (1818–1895)
• 29 April 1885 - Sir Alfred Ryder (1820–1888)
• 18 July 1887 - HRH Edward, Prince of Wales (1841–1910) (honorary)
• 1 May 1888 - Sir Geoffrey Hornby (1825–1895)
• 8 December 1888 - Lord John Hay (1827–1916)
• 2 August 1889 - William II, German Emperor (1859–1941) (honorary)
• 13 February 1892 - Sir John Commerell (1829–1901)
• 3 June 1893 - HRH Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (1844–1900)
• 20 February 1895 - Richard Meade, 4th Earl of Clanwilliam (1832–1907)
• 23 August 1897 - Sir Algernon McLennan Lyons (1833–1908)
• 29 November 1898 - Sir Frederick William Richards (1833–1912)
• 13 January 1899 - Sir Nowell Salmon (1835–1912)
• 3 October 1902 - Sir James Elphinstone Erskine (1838–1911)
• 30 August 1903 - Sir Charles Frederick Hotham (1843–1925)
• 16 June 1904 - Lord Walter Kerr (1839–1927)
• 20 February 1905 - Sir Edward Seymour (1840–1929)
• 5 December 1905 - John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher (1841–1920)
• 1 March 1907 - Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson, 3rd Baronet (1842–1921)
• 11 June 1908 - HIM Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia (1868–1918) (honorary)
• 2 December 1908 - Sir Gerard Noel (1845–1918)
• 27 January 1910 - HRH Prince Heinrich of Prussia (1862–1929) (honorary)
• 30 April 1910 - Sir Arthur Fanshawe (1847–1936)
• 20 March 1913 - Sir William May (1849–1930)
• 5 March 1915 - Sir Hedworth Meux (1856–1929)
• 2 April 1917 - Sir George Callaghan (1852–1920)
• 3 April 1919 - John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe (1859–1935)
• 3 April 1919 - David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty (1871–1936)
• 31 July 1919 - Sir Henry Bradwardine Jackson (1855–1929)
• 1 November 1919 - Rosslyn Erskine-Wemyss, 1st Baron Wester Wemyss (1864–1933)
• 24 November 1920 - Sir Cecil Burney, 1st Baronet (1858–1929)
• 5 July 1921 - Sir Frederick Doveton Sturdee, 1st Baronet (1859-1925)
• 22 August 1921 - Louis Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Milford Haven (1854–1921)
• 31 July 1924 - Sir Charles Madden (1862–1935)
• 8 May 1925 - Sir Somerset Calthorpe (1864–1937)
• 24 November 1925 - Sir John de Robeck (1862–1928)
• 21 January 1928 - Sir Henry Oliver (1865–1965)
• 31 July 1929 - Sir Osmond Brock (1869–1947)
• 8 May 1930 - Roger John Brownlow Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes (1872–1945)
• 20 January 1933 - Sir Frederick Laurence Field (1871–1945)
• 31 July 1934 - Sir Reginald Tyrwhitt, 1st Baronet (1870–1951)
• 1935 - Alfred Chatfield, 1st Baron Chatfield (1873–1967)
• 21 January 1936 - HM King Edward VIII (1894–1972)
• 12 July 1936 - Sir John Kelly (1871–1936)
• 11 December 1936 - HM King George VI (1894–1952)
• 21 January 1938 - William Boyle, 12th Earl of Cork (1873–1967)
• 7 July 1939 - Sir Roger Backhouse (1878–1939)
• 31 July 1939 - Sir Dudley Pound (1877–1943)
• 8 May 1940 - Sir Charles Forbes (1880-1960)
• 21 January 1943 - Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope (1883–1963)
• 22 October 1943 - John Tovey, 1st Baron Tovey (1885–1971)
• 8 May 1945 - Sir James Somerville (1882–1949)
• 21 January 1948 - Sir John Cunningham (1885–1965)
• 22 October 1948 - Bruce Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape (1888–1981)
• 20 March 1949 - Sir Algernon Willis (1889–1976)
• 22 April 1952 - Sir Arthur Power (1889–1960)
• 1 June 1952 - Sir Philip Vian (1894–1968)
• 15 January 1953 - HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born 1921)
• 1 May 1953 - Sir Rhoderick McGrigor (1893–1959)
• 22 April 1955 - Sir George Creasy (1895–1972)
• 22 October 1956 - Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1900–1979)
• 1960 - Sir Charles Lambe (1900–1960)
• 23 May 1962 - Sir Caspar John (1903–1984)
• 12 August 1968 - Sir Varyl Begg (1908–1995)
• 1970 - Sir Michael LeFanu (1913–1970)
• 12 March 1971 - Peter Hill-Norton, Baron Hill-Norton (1915–2004)
• 1 March 1974 - Sir Michael Pollock (1916–2006)
• 9 February 1977 - Sir Edward Ashmore (born 1919)
• 6 July 1979 - Terence Lewin, Baron Lewin (1920–1999)
• 1 December 1982 - Sir Henry Leach (born 1923)
• 2 August 1985 - John Fieldhouse, Baron Fieldhouse (1928–1992)
• 25 May 1989 - Sir William Staveley (1928–1997)
• 2 March 1992 - Sir Julian Oswald (born 1933)
• 10 July 1995 - Sir Benjamin Bathurst (born 1936)

The practice of ordinarily promoting retiring First Sea Lords or Admirals becoming Chief of the Defence Staff to the rank of Admiral of the Fleet was then halted.

1. ^ Prothero, David (2002-12-03). United Kingdom: Royal Navy rank flags (EN). Flags of the World. Retrieved on 2006-7-28.

• Admiral of the Fleet

	Officer ranks of the British Armed Forces
	Student Officer	OF(D)	OF-1		OF-2	OF-3	OF-4	OF-5	OF-6	OF-7	OF-8	OF-9	OF-10
Royal Navy:		Mid	SLt		Lt	Lt Cdr	Cdr	Capt	Cdre	RAdm	VAdm	Adm	Adm of the Fleet
Royal Marines:			2Lt	Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen
Army:	OCdt		2Lt	Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig	Maj Gen	Lt Gen	Gen	FM
Royal Air Force:	OC		APO / Plt Off	Fg Off	Flt Lt	Sqn Ldr	Wg Cdr	Gp Capt	Air Cdre	AVM	Air Mshl	Air Chf Mshl	MRAF