Rear admiral (RAdm) ( sv, Konteramiral, Kam) is a two-star commissioned

naval officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

rank in the

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (). In Swedish, vessels o ...

. Rear admiral ranks above rear admiral (lower half) and below vice admiral. Rear admiral is equivalent to the rank of

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

History

In Sweden, the admiral's rank first appeared during the reign of

Gustav I Gustav I, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksföre ...

, who in 1522 gave it to Erik Fleming, a

Council of the Realm The Council of the Realm ( es, Consejo del Reino) was a corporate organ of Francoist Spain, created by the Law of Succession to the Headship of the State of 1947. Within the institutional complex created to hierarchize the regime of Francisco Fran ...

. During Gustav's reign as king and throughout the latter part of the 16th century, the highest command of a fleet was led by a ''översteamiral'' ("colonel admiral"), to whose assistant a ''underamiral'' was appointed. It was not until 1569 that a permanent ''översteamiral'' was appointed; In 1602 the title was exchanged for ''riksamiral'' ("

Admiral of the Realm Admiral of the Realm was a military and political title given to nobles in Denmark-Norway ( da, Rigsadmiral), Sweden ( sv, Riksamiral) and Holy Roman Empire (german: Reichsadmiral). Denmark-Norway and Sweden Almost at the same time in the 1570s, ...

"). The first permanent ''underamiral'' was appointed in 1575; his office ceased in 1619. Vice admiral is first mentioned in 1577. The admirals of the

have, incidentally, been as follows: ''generalamiral'' (" general admiral"), amiralgeneral (" admiral general"), ''storamiral'' (" grand admiral"), ''överamiral'', ''riksviceamiral'' ("Vice

"), ''amiralgenerallöjtnant'' ("admiral lieutenant general"), ''amirallöjtnant'' (" lieutenant admiral"), ''schoutbynacht'' and ''konteramiral'' ("

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

"). Rear admiral is equivalent to the rank of

in the

Swedish Army The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gustav Vas ...

, the

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...

, the

Swedish Coastal Artillery The Swedish Coastal Artillery ( sv, Kustartilleriet, KA) has its origin in the Archipelago Artillery that was raised in 1866. The Coastal Artillery was formed from the Archipelago Artillery, the Marine Regiment and parts of the Artillery in 1902 ...

(until 2000) and as well as in the

Swedish Amphibious Corps The Amphibious Corps ( sv, Amfibiekåren, Amf) is the maritime land force arm of the Swedish Navy, with an emphasis on coastal defence. Until 2000 it was known as the Coastal Artillery ( sv, Kustartilleriet), but the name was changed to reflect i ...

(from 2000). Historically, the Chief of the Naval Staff was often a rear admiral (or a major general in the

) and the Chief of the

Coastal Fleet The Coastal Fleet ( sv, Kustflottan, Kfl) was until 1994 a Swedish Navy authority with the main task of training the naval ships commanders and crews. After the formation of the authority Swedish Armed Forces in 1994, the Coastal Fleet remained ...

. The Inspector (General) of the Navy (1998–2013) position was a flag officer with the rank of rear admiral. The current Chief of Navy (2014–present) position is a rear admiral. Following a proposal from the Swedish Armed Forces, the

Government of Sweden The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden ( sv, Konungariket Sveriges regering) is the national cabinet of Sweden, and the country's executive authority. The Government consists of the Prime Ministerappointed and dismissed by the Speaker of the ...

decides on employment as a rear admiral. In everyday speech, rear admirals are addressed as admirals.

Uniform

Shoulder mark

The shoulder mark of a Swedish rear admiral contains a 45 mm galloon m/51 and two 25 mm star m/30 in silver embroidery on a white background: The center distance between the stars on the shoulder mark must be 27 mm. File:OF-7_Konteramiral_FL_hylsa.jpg, Shoulder mark of a Swedish rear admiral (1972–present) File:OF-6_Flottiljamiral_FL_hylsa.jpg, Shoulder mark of a Swedish rear admiral (1878–1972)

Sleeve insignia

A flag officer wears on the sleeves a 45 mm galloon (''GALON M/51 45MM K'') and a rank insignia (''GRADBETECKNING M/02 TILL ÄRM FLOTTAN'') (round loop, the Amphibious Corps has a pointed loop in form of a grenade). File:OF-7_Konteramiral_FL_arm.jpg, Sleeve insignia for a rear admiral (2003–present) File:Konteramiral_Jonas_Wikström_2021.jpg, Rear admiral Jonas Wikström with new sleeve insignia for a rear admiral (2003–present) File:OF-7_Konteramiral_FL_ärm_pre-2003.jpg, Sleeve insignia for a rear admiral (1972–2003) File:OF-7 Konteramiral FL ärm pre-1972.jpg, Sleeve insignia for a rear admiral (1878–1972) File:Viceamiral Oscar Krokstedt KBGF.011957.jpg, Rear admiral

Oscar Krokstedt Vice Admiral Nils ''Oscar'' Jakob Krokstedt (12 October 1908 – 13 December 1985) was a Swedish Navy officer. His senior commands included Chief of the Naval Staff, head of the Swedish National Defence College and military commander of the We ...

with old sleeve insignia for a rear admiral (1878–1972)

Hats

Peaked cap

A flag officer wears as embellishments a gold embroidered oak leaf wreath (known as

scrambled egg Scrambled eggs is a dish made from eggs (usually chicken eggs) stirred, whipped or beaten together while being gently heated, typically with salt, butter, oil and sometimes other ingredients. Preparation Only eggs are necessary to make scrambled ...

) on the visor of the

peaked cap The peaked cap, peaked hat, service cap, barracks cover or combination cap is a form of headgear worn by the armed forces of many nations, as well as many uniformed civilian organisations such as law enforcement agencies and fire departments. It ...

(''skärmmössa m/48''). It also fitted with a hat badge (''mössmärke m/78 off för flottan'') and with a strap in form of a golden

braid A braid (also referred to as a plait) is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing two or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-strande ...

. File:Ericson, Stig Hson (1955).jpg, Peaked cap worn by Stig H:son Ericson. File:Mössmärke m78 FL Officer.png, Hat badge

Side cap and winter hat

An officer wears a hat badge (''mössmärke m/78 off'') for the navy and another (''mössmärke m/87 off'') for amphibious units on the side cap (''båtmössa m/48'') and on the winter hat (''vintermössa m/87'').

Personal flags

Admiral's command flag, which admirals of all ranks carry on ships, where they are as commanders. On a

three-masted ship A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel's sail plan with three or more masts, all of them square-rigged. A full-rigged ship is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged. Such vessels also have each mast stepped in three se ...

, a rear admiral's flag flies on the top of the mizzen-mast (admiral's flies on top of the main mast and vice admiral's on top of the fore-mast). The command flag of a rear admiral (and a

) is a double swallowtailed

Swedish flag The national flag of Sweden ( sv, Sveriges flagga) consists of a yellow or gold Nordic cross (i.e. a horizontal cross extending to the edges, with the crossbar closer to the hoist than the fly) on a field of light blue. The Nordic cross design t ...

. In the first blue field 2 five-pointed white stars beside each other (before 1972 by one in the same place). The flag of the rear admiral (and admiral and vice admiral) is flown on ships of the navy, from which officer of the rank now mentioned exercises his command, or on which he travels in the service, but not on ships on which he is in the capacity of exercise leader. A flag officer (for example rear admiral) who holds the position of Supreme Commander, Chief of Operations, Chief of Navy, Chief of

Maritime Component Command Maritime Component Command ( sv, Marinens taktiska stab, MTS) was a part of the Joint Forces Command of the Swedish Armed Forces. The staff was located at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters in Stockholm and is headed by the Chief of Navy. Th ...

or naval force commander, may carry an admiral flag on a car in which the commander in question travels in uniform. On airplanes/helicopters, rear admirals (flag officers) may carry a command sign in the form of an image of an admiral flag. File:Naval Rank Flag of Sweden - Konteramiralsflagga.svg, Rear admiral/

Major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

command flag (2 stars) (1972–present) File:Naval_Rank_Flag_of_Sweden_-_Flottiljamiralsflagga.svg, Rear admiral command flag (1 star) (1905–1972) File:Swedish_command_flag_(1875-1905)_-_Rear_Admiral.svg, Rear admiral command flag (1875–1905) File:Swedish-Norwegian_command_flag_(1815-1844)_-_Rear_Admiral.svg, Rear admiral command flag (1836–1844)

Gun salute

When raising or lowering flags of the commander's, squadron, department or division commander, a gun salute is given with 13 rounds for rear admiral (17 for admiral and 15 for vice admiral).

Footnotes

References

Notes

Print

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rear Admiral (Sweden) Military ranks of the Swedish Navy Two-star officers