Admiral (United States)
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Flag of an admiral of the United States Navy.
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The stars, shoulder boards, and sleeve stripes of a U.S. Navy admiral of the "line".
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| Country |
 United States
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| Service branch | |
| Abbreviation | ADM |
| Rank | Four-star |
| NATO rank | OF-9 |
| Non-NATO rank | O-10 |
| Next higher rank | Fleet admiral |
| Next lower rank | Vice admiral |
| Equivalent ranks | General (Uniformed services of the United States) |
Admiral (abbreviated as ADM) is a four-star commissioned naval flag officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade of O-10. Admiral ranks above vice admiral and below fleet admiral in the Navy; the Coast Guard and the Public Health Service do not have an established grade above admiral. Admiral is equivalent to the rank of general in the other uniformed services. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps has never had an officer hold the grade of admiral. However, 37 U.S.C. § 201 of the U.S. Code established the grade for the NOAA Corps in the case a position is created that merits the four-star grade.
Since the five-star grade of fleet admiral has not been used since 1946, the grade of admiral is effectively the highest appointment an officer can achieve in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
The United States Navy did not have any admirals until 1862 because many people felt the title too reminiscent of royalty, such as the British Royal Navy, to be used in the country's navy. Others saw the need for ranks above captain, among them John Paul Jones, who pointed out that the navy had to have officers who "ranked" with army generals. He also felt there must be ranks above captain to avoid disputes among senior captains. The various secretaries of the navy repeatedly recommended to Congress that admiral ranks be created because the other navies of the world used them and American senior officers were "often subjected to serious difficulties and embarrassments in the interchange of civilities with those of other nations." Congress finally authorized nine rear admirals on July 16, 1862, although that was probably more for the needs of the rapidly expanding navy during the American Civil War than any international considerations. Two years later Congress authorized the appointment of a vice admiral from among the nine rear admirals: David Farragut. Another bill allowed the President of the United States to appoint Farragut to admiral on July 25, 1866, and David Dixon Porter to vice admiral. When Farragut died in 1870, Porter became admiral and Stephen C. Rowan was promoted to vice admiral. Even after they died, Congress did not allow the promotion of any of the rear admirals to succeed them, so there were no more admirals or vice admirals by promotion until 1915 when Congress authorized an admiral and a vice admiral each for the Atlantic, Pacific and Asiatic Fleets.
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