Admiral of the Fleet (United Kingdom)

Admiral of the Fleet
Insignia shoulder board for Admiral of the Fleet
The flag of an admiral of the Fleet is the Union Flag, and is in 1:2 rather than the 2:3 of other admirals' flags.
Country	United Kingdom
Service branch	Royal Navy
Rank	Five-star
NATO rank	OF-10
Non-NATO rank	O-11
Formation	1690
Next lower rank	Admiral
Equivalent ranks	Field marshal (British Army) Marshal of the Royal Air Force (RAF)

Admiral of the Fleet is a five-star naval officer rank and the highest rank of the British Royal Navy. The five-star NATO rank code is OF-10, although routine appointments ceased in 1995. The rank of Admiral of the Fleet is equivalent to a field marshal in the British Army or a marshal of the Royal Air Force.

The rank evolved from sailing days and the admiral distinctions then used by the Royal Navy when the fleet was divided into three divisions – red, white, or blue. Each division was assigned an admiral, who in turn commanded a vice-admiral and a rear admiral. In the 18th century, the original nine ranks began to be filled by more than one person at any one time. The admiral of the red was pre-eminent and became known as the admiral of the fleet.

The organisation of the British fleet into coloured squadrons was abandoned in 1864, although the Royal Navy kept the White Ensign. When the professional head of the Royal Navy was given the title of First Naval Lord in 1828 (renamed First Sea Lord in 1904), the rank of admiral of the fleet became an honorary promotion for retiring First Naval Lords allowing more than one admiral of the fleet to exist at one time.

Since 1811 five members of the British Royal family, other than the monarch, and four members of foreign royal families have been appointed admirals of the fleet. Of the British royalty granted the rank, only one, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) had not seen service in the Royal Navy.

During the two World Wars a number of serving officers held active commissions as admirals of the fleet, as well as the First Naval Lord. Following the creation of the Chief of the Defence Staff in 1959, the five naval officers appointed to that position became admirals of the fleet. Recognizing the reduced post–Cold War size of the British Armed Forces, no further appointments were made to the rank after 1995 when Sir Benjamin Bathurst was appointed admiral of the fleet on his retirement as First Sea Lord. However, the rank was not abolished and in 2012 the Prince of Wales became an honorary admiral of the fleet (as well as field marshal and marshal of the Royal Air Force), in recognition of his support to Queen Elizabeth II in her role of as Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces. In 2014, Lord Boyce, a former First Sea Lord and Chief of the Defence Staff, was also appointed an honorary admiral of the fleet.