Vice admiral (VAdm) ( sv, Viceamiral, Vam) is a three-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 ...

. Vice admiral ranks above

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 ...

and below

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some 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, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

. Vice admiral is equivalent to the rank of

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

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"). 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 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'' ("

"). Vice admirals were in ancient times called lieutenant admirals. Between 1680 and 1771, vice admiral ranked between admiral and ''schoutbynacht''. It was then replaced by rear admiral. When the vice admiral was commander of the squadrons, he carried the Swedish naval ensign with two white stars in the lower blue field as a sign of command. Vice 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 (until 2000) and as well as in the Swedish Amphibious Corps (from 2000). Historically, the Chief of the Navy (1936–1994) and the Chief of Navy Staff (1994–1998) positions 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 countr ...

with the rank of vice admiral. Historically, during the 20th century, vice admirals were promoted one grade upon retirement to full four-star admiral. The last time this happened was in 1991 when vice admiral

Bror Stefenson Admiral Bror Per Harald Stefenson (4 September 1929 – 3 October 2018) was a Swedish Navy officer. Stefenson's senior commands include Chief of the Defence Staff and military commander of the Eastern Military District (Milo Ö) as well as Comm ...

was promoted to admiral in connection with his retirement from the navy. According to current practice only royals and the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, if he were to come from the

, can hold the rank of a full, four-star, admiral in Sweden. 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 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 vice admiral. In everyday speech, vice 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 sho ...

of a Swedish vice 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 three 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-8 Viceamiral 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 sho ...

of a Swedish vice admiral (1972–present) File:OF-7_Konteramiral_FL_hylsa.jpg,

of a Swedish vice 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-8 Viceamiral FL arm.jpg, Sleeve insignia for a vice admiral (2003–present) File:OF-8 Viceamiral FL ärm pre-2003.jpg, Sleeve insignia for a vice admiral (1972–2003) File:OF-7 Konteramiral FL ärm pre-2003.jpg, Sleeve insignia for a vice admiral (1878–1972) File:Torsten Rapp & Åke Lindemalm in 1967 D 14969 66.jpg, Vice admiral

Åke Lindemalm Admiral Åke Fredrik Lindemalm (26 February 1910 – 30 April 2004) was a Swedish Navy officer. He was Acting Chief of the Naval Staff from 1960 to 1961 and Chief of the Navy from 1961 to 1970. Early life Lindemalm was born on 26 February 1910 ...

(right) with old sleeve insignia for a vice 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 Vice Admiral 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 vice admiral's flag flies on the top of the fore-mast (admiral's flies on top of the main mast and rear admiral's on top of the mizzen-mast). The command flag of a vice admiral (and a

) is a double swallowtailed Swedish flag. In the first blue field 3 five-pointed white stars placed one over two (before 1972 by two in the same place). The flag of the vice admiral (and admiral and rear 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 vice 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, vice admirals (flag officers) may carry a command sign in the form of an image of an admiral flag. File:Naval Rank Flag of Sweden - Viceamiralsflagga.svg, Vice admiral flag (1972–present) File:Naval Rank Flag of Sweden - Konteramiralsflagga.svg, Vice admiral flag (1905–1972) File:Swedish command flag (1875-1905) - Vice Admiral.svg, Vice admiral command flag (1875–1905) File:Swedish-Norwegian command flag (1815-1844) - Vice Admiral.svg, Vice admiral command flag (1815–1844)

Gun salute

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

List of vice admirals

The following people have held the rank of vice admiral in the Swedish Navy from 1900–present:

Footnotes

References

Notes

Print

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