Grand admiral is a historic

naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It inclu ...

rank Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * ...

, the highest rank in the several European navies that used it. It is best known for its use in Germany as . A comparable rank in modern navies is that of admiral of the fleet.

Grand admirals in individual navies

France

Bourbon Restoration Bourbon Restoration may refer to: France under the House of Bourbon: * Bourbon Restoration in France (1814, after the French revolution and Napoleonic era, until 1830; interrupted by the Hundred Days in 1815) Spain under the Spanish Bourbons: * Ab ...

France, the rank was an honorific one equivalent to that of

marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...

in the

French Army History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

Germany

In the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...

, and later in the , the rank was the equivalent of a British admiral of the fleet or a United States fleet admiral; as a

five-star rank A five-star rank is the highest military rank in many countries.Oxford English Dictionary (OED), 2nd Edition, 1989. "five" ... "five-star adj., ... (b) U.S., applied to a general or admiral whose badge of rank includes five stars;" The rank is t ...

(OF-10). Like

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

s its holders were authorised to carry a

baton Baton may refer to: Stick-like objects *Baton, a type of club *Baton (law enforcement) *Baston (weapon), a type of baton used in Arnis and Filipino Martial Arts *Baton charge, a coordinated tactic for dispersing crowds of people *Baton (conductin ...

. The rank was created in 1901 and discontinued in 1945, after eight men were promoted to it. The next most junior rank was (admiral-general).

Imperial Germany

Before and during World War I, the following were made grand admirals of the

(): *

King Edward VII of the United Kingdom Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

(26 June 1902) * (28 June 1905) * King Oscar II of Sweden (13 July 1905) * Prince Henry of Prussia (4 September 1909) * (27 January 1911) * (31 July 1918)

Nazi Germany

''Großadmiral'' was the most senior rank of the , immediately senior to '. There were no more grand admirals until 1939. The following men were made grand admirals during the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

: * , then-Commander-in-Chief of the , was made a grand admiral on 1 April 1939. * , commander of the U-Boat fleet, was made a grand admiral on 30 January 1943 upon succeeding Raeder as Commander-in-Chief.

Austria-Hungary

The Austrian grand admirals were all members of the Imperial family, except for , the commander of the

Austro-Hungarian navy The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy (german: kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine, in short ''k.u.k. Kriegsmarine'', hu, Császári és Királyi Haditengerészet) was the naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the A ...

for part of World War I: * 1911:

Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria Archduke (feminine: Archduchess; German: ''Erzherzog'', feminine form: ''Erzherzogin'') was the title borne from 1358 by the Habsburg rulers of the Archduchy of Austria, and later by all senior members of that dynasty. It denotes a rank within ...

(1860–1933) * 12 May 1916: (1851–1917) * 9 October 1916: Prince Henry of Prussia (1862–1929) * 1 November 1916: Kaiser Charles I of Austria (1887–1922) * 22 February 1917: Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany (1859–1941)

Italy

The rank of grand admiral ( it, grand'ammiraglio) was created by in 1924. It was established primarily to honour , who had been head of the Italian during World War I — he was the only person to be awarded the rank. It was equivalent to marshal of Italy in the army and also marshal of the Air Force.

Peru

In 1967 the rank of Grand Admiral of Peru ( es, Gran Almirante del Perú) was awarded posthumously to Miguel Grau Seminario and is equivalent to the army rank of Grand Marshal of Peru.

In fiction

Among the several grand admirals appearing in fiction and

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

, one notable figure is Grand Admiral Thrawn of the ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

'' science fiction franchise.

References

{{reflist Naval ranks of Germany Military ranks of Austria Military ranks of Italy Military ranks of France Fictional military ranks