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 contex ...
rank in the
Swedish Navy. Vice admiral ranks above
rear admiral and below
admiral. 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, 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"). 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
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 ...
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 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 countries ...
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 Comma ...
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
Swedish Navy, 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 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 sh ...
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 sh ...
of a Swedish vice admiral (1972–present)
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 vice admiral (1878–1972)
Sleeve insignia
A flag officer wears on the sleeves 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 ...
(''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 191 ...
(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.
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 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
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 ...
) 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 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.
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
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vice Admiral (Sweden)
Military ranks of the Swedish Navy
Three-star officers