Rear admiral (RAdm) (, 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 (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...

rank in the

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy () is the maritime service branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet (), formally sometimes referred to as the Royal Navy () – as well as marine units, the Amph ...

. Rear admiral ranks above

rear admiral (lower half) A rear admiral in four of the uniformed services of the United States is one of two distinct ranks of commissioned officers; "rear admiral (lower half)," a one-star flag officer, and "rear admiral" (sometimes referred to as "rear admiral (upper ha ...

and below

vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

. Rear admiral is equivalent to the rank of major general.

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 () 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 Franco (the so-called " ...

. 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 ...

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

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

"). Rear admiral is equivalent to the rank of major general in the

Swedish Army The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...

, the

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( or just ) is the air force Military branch, 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 escalatin ...

, the

Swedish Coastal Artillery The Swedish Coastal Artillery () 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. Kustartilleriet, abbr ...

(until 2000) and as well as in the

Swedish Amphibious Corps The Amphibious Corps (, Amf) is the Marines, marine infantry arm of the Swedish Navy, with an emphasis on coastal defence. It has its roots in the Swedish Coastal Artillery, coastal artillery (, KA) but after the end of the Cold War it was seen as ...

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

) and the Commander-in-Chief of the

Coastal Fleet The Coastal Fleet (, 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 as a unit until ...

. 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 that officer exercises command. Different countries use the term "flag officer" in different ways: * ...

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 (, literally ''Defence Force'') are the Military, armed forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. It consists of four separate military branches, the Swedish Army, the Swedish Navy, the Swedish Air Force and the Home Guard (Swed ...

, the

Government of Sweden The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden () is the Cabinet (government), national cabinet of Sweden, and the country's Executive (government), executive authority. The Government consists of the Prime Minister of Sweden, Prime Minister and their ...

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 a 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 (an elaborate shoulder strap), a (a brai ...

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 poli ...

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 a 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 (an elaborate shoulder strap), a (a brai ...

of a Swedish rear admiral (1972–present) File:Rear Adm. Anders Grenstad & U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Joseph Kernan (cropped).jpg, Rear Admiral Anders Grenstad with

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 Rear admiral (Sweden), Rear Admiral Jonas Atle Wikström (born 28 June 1962) is a retired Swedish Navy officer. Wikström has served as commander of the 4th Naval Warfare Flotilla (Sweden), 4th Naval Warfare Flotilla, as Deputy Operations Comman ...

with current 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:Amerikanskt_besök_vid_Karlskronavarvet_1994_V133563_(cropped).jpg, Rear Admiral Sten Swedlund with old 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 (Sweden), 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 (Sweden), Chief of the Naval Staff, head of the Swedish De ...

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) on the visor of the

peaked cap A 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 d ...

(''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 three or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-strand ...

. 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 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 major general) 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 (, 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. The Maritime Component Comman ...

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 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 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

) 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