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 contex ...

rank in the Swedish Navy. Rear admiral ranks above

rear admiral (lower half) A rear admiral in the uniformed services of the United States is either of two different ranks of commissioned officers: one-star flag officers and two-star flag officers. By contrast, in most other countries, the term "rear admiral" refers only t ...

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 ...

History

In Sweden, the admiral's rank first appeared during the reign of Gustav I, 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"). The first permanent ''underamiral'' was appointed in 1575; his office ceased in 1619. Vice admiral is first mentioned in 1577. The admirals of the Swedish Navy have, incidentally, been as follows: ''generalamiral'' (" general admiral"), amiralgeneral (" admiral general"), ''storamiral'' ("

grand admiral 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 n ...

"), ''överamiral'', ''riksviceamiral'' ("Vice Admiral of the Realm"), ''amiralgenerallöjtnant'' ("admiral lieutenant general"), ''amirallöjtnant'' ("

lieutenant admiral Lieutenant admiral () is a senior naval military rank in the Royal Netherlands Navy. The rank is a four-star rank, senior to a vice-admiral () and equivalent to admiral in most foreign navies. It is used whenever the Dutch Chief of Defence is fro ...

"), ''schoutbynacht'' and ''konteramiral'' (" rear admiral"). Rear admiral is equivalent to the rank of

in the Swedish Army, the Swedish Air Force, the Swedish Coastal Artillery (until 2000) and as well as in the Swedish Amphibious Corps (from 2000). Historically, the Chief of the Naval Staff was often a rear admiral (or a major general in the Swedish Coastal Artillery) 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 A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countries ...

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 Swedish Armed Forces ( sv, Försvarsmakten, "the Defense Force") is the government agency that forms the armed forces of Sweden, tasked with the defense of the country as well as with promoting Sweden's wider interests, supporting internati ...

, the Government of Sweden decides on employment as a rear admiral. In everyday speech, rear admirals are addressed as admirals.

Uniform

Shoulder mark

The

shoulder mark A shoulder mark, also called rank slide, or slip-on, is a flat cloth sleeve worn on the shoulder strap of a uniform. It may bear rank or other insignia. A shoulder mark should not be confused with a ''shoulder board'' (which is an elaborate sh ...

of a Swedish rear admiral contains a 45 mm

galloon Galloon (sometimes spelled galon in British English) is a heavily-decorated woven or braided trim, typically made of, or featuring, gold or silver thread, which may be woven or embroidered. Galloon trim is used in the trim of military and polic ...

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 A shoulder mark, also called rank slide, or slip-on, is a flat cloth sleeve worn on the shoulder strap of a uniform. It may bear rank or other insignia. A shoulder mark should not be confused with a ''shoulder board'' (which is an elaborate sh ...

of a Swedish rear admiral (1972–present) File:OF-6_Flottiljamiral_FL_hylsa.jpg,

of a Swedish rear admiral (1878–1972)

Sleeve insignia

A flag officer wears on the sleeves a 45 mm

(''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. 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. 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 ...

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