Rear admiral (Royal Navy)

Not to be confused with Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom.

For other uses of "rear admiral", see rear admiral.

Rear Admiral
Flag of a rear admiral, Royal Navy.
The sleeve lace, of a Royal Navy rear admiral.
The stars, and shoulder boards, of a Royal Navy rear admiral.
Country	United Kingdom
Service branch	Royal Navy
Abbreviation	RADM
Rank	two-star
NATO rank	OF-7
Non-NATO rank	7
Next higher rank	Vice Admiral
Next lower rank	Commodore
Equivalent ranks	Major-general, United Kingdom

Rear admiral (RAdm) is a flag officer rank of the British Royal Navy. It is immediately superior to commodore and is subordinate to vice admiral. It is a two-star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-7.

Contents

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  1 History
  


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  2 Rank insignia and personal flag
  


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  3 Former command flags
  


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  4 See also
  


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  5 References
  


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  6 Sources
  

History

The rank originated in the days of naval sailing squadrons and each naval squadron would be assigned an admiral as its head. He would command from the centre vessel and direct the activities of the squadron. The admiral would in turn be assisted by a vice admiral, who commanded the lead ships which would bear the brunt of a naval battle. In the rear of the naval squadron, a third admiral would command the remaining ships and, as this section of the squadron was considered to be in the least danger, the admiral in command of the rear would typically be the most junior of the squadron admirals. This has survived into the modern age, with the rank of rear admiral the most-junior of the admiralty ranks of many navies.Prior to 1864 the Royal Navy was divided into colored squadrons which determined his career path. The command flags flown by Rear-Admiral changed a number of times during this period included.^[1]

The Royal Navy rank of rear admiral should be distinguished from the office of Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom, which is an Admiralty position usually held by a senior (and possibly retired) "full" admiral.

Rank insignia and personal flag

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  Royal Navy rear admiral sleeve insignia
  

  
  

  
  


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  Royal Navy rear admiral shoulder board
  

  
  

  
  


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  Royal Navy rear admiral command flag from 1864-present
  

  
  

  
  


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  Royal Navy rear admiral shoulder board prior to 2001^[2]

  
  

  
  


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  World War II Royal Navy rear admiral's steel helmet with two-star insignia
  

  
  

  
  

Former command flags

Main article: List of command flags of the Royal Navy

See also

• List of Royal Navy rear admirals

References

1. 
   ^ Perrin, W. G. (William Gordon) (1922). "IV:Flags of Command". British flags, their early history, and their development at sea; with an account of the origin of the flag as a national device. Cambridge, England: Cambridge : The University Press. pp. 73–109..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   


2. 
   ^ Refer UK DCI (Joint Service) 125/2001
   

Sources

• Perrin, W. G. (William Gordon) (1922). "IV:Flags of Command". British flags, their early history, and their development at sea; with an account of the origin of the flag as a national device. Cambridge, England: Cambridge : The University Press.

v t e Commissioned officer ranks of the British Armed Forces
NATO rank code	Student officer	OF-1		OF-2	OF-3	OF-4	OF-5	OF-6 *	OF-7 **	OF-8 ***	OF-9 ****	OF-10 *****
Royal Navy	O Cdt	Mid	SLt	Lt	Lt Cdr	Cdr	Capt	Cdre	RAdm (list)	VAdm (list)	Adm (list)	Adm of the Fleet
Royal Marines	O Cdt	2Lt	Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig	Maj-Gen	Lt-Gen	Gen (list)	Capt-Gen
Army	O Cdt	2Lt	Lt	Capt	Maj	Lt Col	Col	Brig	Maj-Gen (list)	Lt-Gen (list)	Gen (list)	Fd Mshl
Royal Air Force	Off Cdt / SO	APO / Plt Off	Fg Off	Flt Lt	Sqn Ldr	Wg Cdr	Gp Capt	Air Cdre	AVM	Air Mshl	Air Chf Mshl (list)	Mshl of the RAF

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