Vice admiral is a senior naval
flag officer rank, equivalent to
lieutenant general and
air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a
rear admiral and junior to an
admiral. In many navies,
[Vice admiral is a three-star rank in the navies of NATO and Commonwealth countries, including (since 2001) the Royal Navy. (Refer UK DCI (Joint Service) 125/2001)] vice admiral is a
three-star rank with a NATO code of
OF-8, although in some navies like the
French Navy it is an
OF-7 rank, the OF-8 code corresponding to the
four-star rank of
squadron vice-admiral.
Rank insignia
The rank insignia for a vice admiral often involves three stars, but this is not always the case. In the navy of Iraq, vice admiral insignia involves one star.
In the navies of
Azerbaijan,
Bangladesh,
China,
Cuba,
Iran,
Mexico,
North Korea,
and Russia, vice admiral insignia involves two stars, and in the navy of Turkey, vice admiral insignia involves four stars.
Gallery
File:Royal Australian Navy OF-8.svg|Royal Australian Navy shoulder board
File:13.BNF-ADM.svg|Bangladesh Navy
File:VAArmada.jpg|Brazilian Navy
File:Canada-Navy-OF-8-collected.svg|Royal Canadian Navy
File:Rukav zimske odore viceadmirala HRM.svg|Croatian Navy
File:EgyptianNavyInsignia-ViceAdmiral-shoulderboard.svg|Egyptian shoulder board
File:French Navy-Rama NG-OF7.svg|French Navy
File:MDS 63 Vizeadmiral Trp.svg|''Vizeadmiral'' (German Navy)
File:13-Indian Navy-VADM.svg|Indian Navy
File:Pdu_laksdyatni_komando.png|Indonesian Navy shoulder board (command)
File:16-IIN-Daryasalar-2.png|Imperial Iranian Navy
File:20-Daryasalar.png|Islamic Republic of Iran Navy
File:Vice Admiral50.jpg|Irish Naval Service
File:JMSDF Vice Admiral insignia (b).svg|''Kaishō'' (Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force)
File:18.SKN-VADM.svg|''해군중장'' (Republic of Korea Navy)
File:Netherlands-Navy-OF-8.svg|''Vice-Admiraal'' (Royal Netherlands Navy)
File:PN VADM BlkDr-Slv.svg|Vice Admiral Sleeve Insignia (Philippine Navy)
File:PN VADM WhtDr.svg|Vice Admiral Shoulder Insignia (Philippine Navy)
File:POL PMW pagon1 wiceadmirał.svg|Polish Navy ''wiceadmirał'' shoulder insignia
File:RO-Navy-OF-9s.png|Romanian tunic shoulder board of a ''viceamiral''
File:RAF N F7VicAdm since 2010par.svg|Russian Navy (and formerly Soviet Navy)
File:4arm.png|''Vicealmirante'' of the Spanish Navy
File:SWE-NavyOF8.svg|Swedish Navy sleeve insignia
File:RTN OF-8 (Vice Admiral).svg|Royal Thai Navy
File:British Royal Navy (sleeves) OF-8.svg|Sleeve insignia:
Royal Navy (United Kingdom),
Royal Canadian Navy,
Royal Australian Navy,
Royal New Zealand Navy,
Bangladesh Navy,
Indian Navy and
Royal Norwegian Navy
File:British Royal Navy OF-8.svg|Royal Navy shoulder board
File:US Navy O9 insignia.svg|U.S. Navy
File:USCG O9 insignia.svg|U.S. Coast Guard
File:Ukraine Vice Admiral shoulderboard.svg|Ukrainian Navy (before 2016)
File:UAN shoulder mark 19.svg|Ukrainian Navy (after 2016)
File:Vietnam People's Navy Vice Admiral.jpg|Vietnam People's Navy
Australia
In the
Royal Australian Navy, the rank of
vice admiral is held by the
Chief of Navy and, when the positions are held by navy officers, by the
Vice Chief of the Defence Force, the
Chief of Joint Operations, and/or the
Chief of Capability Development Group.
Vice admiral is the equivalent of
air marshal in the
Royal Australian Air Force and
lieutenant general in the
Australian Army.
Bangladesh
Vice admiral is a three-star admiral rank of the
Bangladesh Navy.
Canada
In the
Royal Canadian Navy, the rank of vice-admiral (VAdm) (''vice-amiral'' or ''Vam'' in
French) is equivalent to
lieutenant-general of the
Canadian Army and
Royal Canadian Air Force. A vice-admiral is a
flag officer, the naval equivalent of a
general officer. A vice-admiral is senior to a
rear-admiral and
major general, and junior to an
admiral and
general.
The rank insignia of a Canadian vice-admiral is as follows:
* On the
navy blue mess dress jacket and the navy blue service dress tunic: the cuff insignia is one wide gold braid below two standard size gold braids, the superior one includes the executive curl.
* On tropical white mess dress and tropical white service dress tunic: three silver maple leaves, beneath silver crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by a St. Edward's Crown located on gold shoulder boards.
Two rows of gold oak leaves are located on the black visor of the white service cap. From 1968 to June 2010, the navy blue service dress tunic featured only a wide gold braid around the cuff with three gold maple leaves, beneath crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by a St. Edward's Crown located on cloth shoulder straps.
Vice-admirals are addressed by rank and name; thereafter by subordinates as "Sir" or "Ma'am". Vice-admirals are normally entitled to a
staff car; the car will normally bear a flag, dark blue with three gold maple leaves arranged one over two.
A vice-admiral generally holds only the most senior command or administrative appointments, barring only
Chief of Defence Staff, which is held by a full
admiral or
general. Appointments held by vice-admirals may include:
*
Vice Chief of the Defence Staff (VCDS);
*
Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (DCDS);
* Commander of an operational command (such as
Canadian Joint Operations Command);
*
Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy;
* Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) of Defence in various capacities;
* Commander of, or representative to, a multinational force, alliance, or treaty organization.
Charles, Prince of Wales holds the honorary rank of vice admiral in the Royal Canadian Navy.
France
In
France, ''vice-amiral'' is the most senior of the
ranks in the French Navy; higher ranks, ''vice-amiral d'escadre'' and ''amiral'', are permanent functions, style and position (in French ''rang et appellation'') given to a ''vice-amiral''-ranking officer. The ''vice-amiral'' rank used to be an OF-8 rank in NATO charts, but nowadays, it is more an OF-7 rank.
The rank of ''vice-amiral d'escadre'' (literally, "
squadron vice-admiral", with more precision, "fleet vice-admiral") equals a NATO OF-8 rank.
In the ''
ancien régime'' Navy, between 1669 and 1791. The office of "Vice-Admiral of France" (''Vice-amiral de France'') was the highest rank, the supreme office of "Admiral of France" being purely ceremonial.
Distinct offices were :
* 1669–1791 Vice-admiral of the West (
Atlantic Ocean).
* 1669–1791 Vice-admiral of the East (
Mediterranean Sea).
* 1778–1791 Vice-admiral of the Asian and American Seas (American shores).
* 1784–1788 Vice-admiral of the Indian Seas (
Indian Ocean).
Germany

''Vizeadmiral'' is an
OF-8 three-star rank equivalent to the German ''
Heer'' and ''
Luftwaffe'' rank of ''
Generalleutnant''.
India
In
India, vice admiral is a three-star admiral rank of the
Indian Navy.
Italy
In
Italy, the equivalent to vice admiral is the ''
ammiraglio di squadra'' or ''
squadron admiral''.
Philippines
In the
Philippines, the rank vice admiral is the highest-ranking official of the
Philippine Navy. He is recognized as the flag officer in-command of the navy, an equivalent post to the Chief of Naval Operations in the U.S. Navy.
Poland
Before World War II, the vice admiral was the highest rank in the Polish Navy.
Jozef Unrug was one of the only two officers to achieve the rank. The other was
Jerzy Świrski. Poland had only one sovereign sea port,
Port of Gdynia, and was slowly building a small modern navy that was to be ready by 1950. The navy was not a priority for obvious reasons. At present, it is a "two-star" rank. The stars are not used; however, the stars were used in between 1952 and 1956 and are still used in the vice admiral's pennant.
Sweden
In
Sweden, vice admiral is a three-star admiral rank of the
Swedish Navy.
United Kingdom
In the
Royal Navy the rank of vice-admiral should be distinguished from the office of "
Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom", which is an
Admiralty position usually held by a retired "full"
admiral, and that of "
Vice-Admiral of the Coast", a now obsolete office dealing with naval administration in each of the maritime counties.
History
United States
Vietnam
In
Vietnam, the equivalent to vice admiral is the ''phó đô đốc'' which is a 2-star rank. It is below the admiral (3 stars) and above rear admiral (1 star).
References
See also
*
Comparative military ranks
{{Highest Military Ranks
Category:Military ranks of Canada
Category:Military insignia
Category:Naval ranks
Category:Military ranks of Australia
Category:Military ranks of Singapore