Rear admiral (RAdm) is a
flag officer rank of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
. It is immediately superior to
commodore and is subordinate to
vice admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral.
Australia
In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...
. It is a
two-star rank and has a
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
ranking code of OF-7.
The equivalent rank in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
and
Royal Marines
The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...
is
major-general; and in the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
it is
air vice-marshal.
History
The rank originated in the 17th century, in the days of
naval sailing squadrons when each naval squadron would be assigned an
admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...
as its head. The admiral would command from the centre vessel and direct the activities of the squadron.
The admiral would in turn be assisted by a vice admiral, who commanded the lead ships which would bear the brunt of a naval battle. In the rear of the naval squadron, a third admiral would command the remaining ships and, as this section of the squadron was considered to be in the least danger, the admiral in command of the rear would typically be the most junior of the squadron admirals. This has survived into the modern age, with the rank of rear admiral the most junior of the admiralty ranks of many navies.
Prior to 1864 the Royal Navy was divided into coloured squadrons which determined
career path. The
command flags flown by a rear-admiral changed a number of times during this period.
The Royal Navy rank of rear admiral should be distinguished from the office of
Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom, which is an Admiralty position usually held by a senior (and possibly retired) "full" admiral.
Rank insignia and personal flag
File:British Royal Navy (sleeves) OF-7.svg, Royal Navy rear admiral sleeve insignia
File:British Royal Navy OF-7.svg, Royal Navy rear admiral shoulder board
File:Flag of Rear-Admiral - Royal Navy.svg, Royal Navy rear admiral command flag, 1864–present
File:British Royal Navy OF-6 (new).svg, Royal Navy rear admiral shoulder board prior to 2001[Refer UK DCI (Joint Service) 125/2001]
File:World War II Royal Navy rear admiral's steel helmet.jpg, World War II Royal Navy rear admiral's steel helmet with two-star insignia
Former command flags
See also
*
British and U.S. military ranks compared
*
Coloured squadrons of the Royal Navy
*
Comparative military ranks
*
Rear-Admiral of the Blue
*
Rear-Admiral of the White
*
Rear-Admiral of the Red
*
Royal Navy officer rank insignia
*
List of Royal Navy rear admirals
References
Sources
*Perrin, W. G. (William Gordon) (1922). "IV:Flags of Command". British flags, their early history, and their development at sea; with an account of the origin of the flag as a national device. Cambridge, England: Cambridge : The University Press.
{{UK officer ranks
Military ranks of the Royal Navy
it:Retroammiraglio#Regno Unito