For use of this rank in other countries, see Admiral of the Fleet

Admiral of the Fleet

An admiral of the fleet is a military naval officer of the highest rank. In many nations the rank is reserved for wartime or ceremonial appointments...

Admiral of the Fleet (AF) is the highest rank in the Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

, but is a ceremonial, not active or operational, rank. It equates to the rank code O-11. Equivalent ranks in the other services are Field Marshal

Field Marshal (Australia)

Field Marshal is the highest rank of the Australian Army and was created as a direct equivalent of the British military rank of field marshal. A five-star rank, the equivalent ranks in the other armed services are Admiral of the Fleet and Marshal of the Royal Australian Air Force...

 and Marshal of the Royal Australian Air Force. Like those ranks, Admiral of the Fleet is a five-star rank.

The subordinate naval rank, and highest active rank in the RAN, is Admiral

Admiral (Australia)

Admiral is the highest active rank of the Royal Australian Navy and was created as a direct equivalent of the British Navy rank of Admiral. It is a four-star rank. Since World War II, in general, the only time the rank is held is when the Chief of the Defence Force is a Navy officer.Admiral is a...

. This rank is only held when the Chief of the Defence Force (Australia)

Chief of the Defence Force (Australia)

Chief of the Defence Force is the most senior appointment in the Australian Defence Force . The CDF commands the ADF under the direction of the Minister of Defence, in a coequal arrangement with the Secretary of Defence, the most senior public servant in the Department of Defence.The position is a...

 is a Naval officer. The highest permanent rank in the RAN is Vice Admiral

Vice Admiral (Australia)

Vice admiral is the second-highest active rank of the Royal Australian Navy and was created as a direct equivalent of the British rank of vice admiral. It is a three-star rank...

, held by Chief of Navy (Australia)

Chief of Navy (Australia)

The Chief of Navy is the most senior appointment in the Royal Australian Navy, responsible to the Chief of the Defence Force and the Secretary of Defence...

.

History

The rank evolved from the ancient sailing days and the admiral distinctions then used by the Royal Navy. The British fleet was divided into three divisions and each designated a colour

Color

Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...

, that of red, white, or blue. Each coloured division was assigned an admiral

Admiral

Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...

, who in turn had command over a vice admiral

Vice Admiral

Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...

 and a rear admiral

Rear Admiral

Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...

. In the 18th century, the original nine ranks began to be filled by more than one person per rank. The admiral of the fleet commanded the admirals of the various divisions and thus, the entirety of the British fleet.

The organisation of the British fleet into coloured squadrons was abandoned in 1864, with the Royal Navy keeping the White Ensign

White Ensign

The White Ensign or St George's Ensign is an ensign flown on British Royal Navy ships and shore establishments. It consists of a red St George's Cross on a white field with the Union Flag in the upper canton....

. By this time, the position admiral of the fleet had already become an honorary promotion; when the position of professional head of the Royal Navy was given the name of First Naval Lord

First Sea Lord

The First Sea Lord is the professional head of the Royal Navy and the whole Naval Service; it was formerly known as First Naval Lord. He also holds the title of Chief of Naval Staff, and is known by the abbreviations 1SL/CNS...

 in 1828 (renamed First Sea Lord in 1904), admiral of the fleet became an honorary promotion for retiring First Naval Lords. This allowed multiple honorary admirals of the fleet to co-exist throughout the history of the rank. With the establishment of the Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 in 1911, the navy inherited the same ranks as its Royal Navy predecessor. However, the rank of Admiral of the Fleet has only been once used in its history so far, with the highest ranks remaining the traditional reserve as a wartime rank and did not take on the regular honorary appointments that its British counterpart did until 1996. The current and so far only holder of this rank is HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....

, prince-consort to the Queen of Australia, Elizabeth II.

Australian admirals of the fleet

Appointed		Name	Born	Died
15 January	1954	EdinburghHRH The Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....	1921