Admiral of the Navy

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Admiral of the Navy is a senior-most rank of a naval service, with its origins in the Middle Ages. A United States Admiral of the Navy is considered the equivalent of a six-star rank. The only American ever to hold it was George Dewey. While he had a unique sleeve insignia consisting of two wide stripes (admirals only wear one) on either side of a narrower one, he only wore four stars.

In the British Royal Navy, a similar rank is known as Admiral of the Fleet, however it is a five-star rank (equivalent to the American Fleet Admiral).

Some navies use the term Admiral of the Navy as a title bestowed upon a Fleet Admiral or other senior Naval official. During the Second World War, the German Kriegsmarine referred to the senior most Grand Admiral as an Admiral of the Navy, known in German as the Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine.

[edit] See also

• Comparative military ranks
• General of the Army (United States)
• General of the Air Force (United States)