Grand admiral is a historic naval rank, 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

In Bourbon Restoration France, the rank was an honorific one equivalent to that of marshal in the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

Germany

In the Imperial German Navy, 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 a ...

s its holders were authorised to carry a baton. 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 Imperial German Navy (): * King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (26 June 1902) * (28 June 1905) * King Oscar II of Sweden (13 July 1905) *

Prince Henry of Prussia Prince Henry of Prussia can refer to: *Prince Henry of Prussia (1726–1802) *Prince Henry of Prussia (1747–1767) *Prince Henry of Prussia (1781–1846) *Prince Henry of Prussia (1862–1929) *Prince Henry of Prussia (1900–1904) Prince Henry ...

(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 withi ...

(1860–1933) * 12 May 1916: (1851–1917) * 9 October 1916:

(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 Grand Marshal of Peru ( es, Gran Mariscal del Perú), commonly referred as Marshal of Peru, is the highest rank in the Peruvian Army. Unlike the other ranks, it is conferred only to an officer who has been victorious at war. List of Marshals of ...

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 imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

, one notable figure is Grand Admiral Thrawn of the '' Star Wars'' science fiction franchise.

References

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