Grand Admiral

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the fictional rank, see Grand Admiral (Star Wars).

Grand Admiral is a historic naval rank, generally being the highest such rank present in any particular country. Its most notable use is in Germany — the German word is Großadmiral.

1 Germany
- 1.1 World War I
- 1.2 World War II
2 Italy
3 Austria-Hungary
4 Footnotes

[edit] Germany

In the German Navy, the rank was the equivalent of a British Admiral of the Fleet or a United States Fleet Admiral. It was created in 1901, and like Field Marshals its holders were authorised to carry a baton.<ref>The Times, 1 January 1901.</ref>

[edit] World War I

Before and during World War I, the following men were made Grand Admirals of the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy):

Kaiser Wilhelm II (1901)
King Oscar II of Sweden (1901)
Hans von Koester (28 June 1905)
Prinz Heinrich von Preußen (4 September 1909)
Alfred von Tirpitz (27 January 1911)
Henning von Holtzendorff (31 May 1918)

[edit] World War II

Alfred von Tirpitz in the uniform of a Grand Admiral

Before and during World War II, the following men were made Grand Admirals of the German Kriegsmarine:

Erich Raeder, then-Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine, was made a Grand Admiral on 1 April 1939
Karl Dönitz, commander of the U-Boat Fleet and later successor to Adolf Hitler, was made a Grand Admiral on 30 January 1943 upon succeeding Raeder as Commander-in-Chief.

The Kriegsmarine also used the rank of General Admiral (Generaladmiral) which was senior to a full Admiral, but junior to a Grand Admiral.

[edit] Italy

The rank of Grand Admiral (in Italian, Grande Ammiraglio) was created by Benito Mussolini in 1924. It was established primarily to honour Paolo Thaon di Revel, who had been head of the Italian Regia Marina during World War I — he was the only person to be awarded the rank. It was equivalent to Marshal of Italy in the army.

[edit] Austria-Hungary

Anton Haus, commander of the Austro-Hungarian navy for part of World War I, was given the title of Grand Admiral (Großadmiral) in 1916. No other officer was ever given this rank, including Haus's immediate successors in command.