THE word admiral is derived from the Arabic Amir al (“lord” or “chief of the”); Amir al-bahr, commander of the sea. The term seems to have been introduced into Europe during the Crusades, and to have been first used in a definite sense by the Sicilians, and later by the Genoese. In French, the word is preserved without change, as Amiral; in Spanish and in Portuguese, it has developed into Almirante, and in Italian into Ammiraglio. The old English form was very likely similar to the French, as we find it spelled Amyrcll and Admyrall. It was Latinized into English as Admiralius, and as early as the reign of Edward III was anglicized as Admyrall. The first English “admiral of the seas” was William de Leybourne, 1297. His office was not, however, that of a commander of sea forces, but embraced general and extensive powers afterwards associated with the title of Lord High Admiral of England.
In the U. S. Navy, John Paul Jones seems to have been the first man to consider the title as a designation for our higher naval commissions. Only two months after the Declaration of Independence, he wrote to Robert Morris of the Marine Committee:
I am convinced that the parity in rank between sea and land or marine officers is of more consequence to the harmony of the service than has generally been imagined. In the British establishment, an admiral ranks with a general, a vice admiral with a lieutenant general, a rear admiral with a major general propose not our enemies as example for general imitation, yet as their navy is the best regulated in the world, we must in some degree imitate them, and aim at such further improvement as will one day vie with and exceed theirs. Were that regulation to take place in our navy, it would prevent numberless disputes and duellings that otherwise would be unavoidable.
Morris seems to have considered his suggestions favorably for on November 15, 1776, Congress fixed the relative rank of Army and Navy officers as follows:
Admiral with general.
Vice-admiral with lieutenant general.
Rear admiral with major general.
Commodore with brigadier general.
Captain of a ship of forty guns and upwards with colonel.
Captain of a ship of twenty to forty guns with lieutenant colonel.
Captain of a ship of ten to twenty guns with major.
Lieutenant of the Navy with captain.
The four higher grades were not established at this time and for nearly a century the highest rank in our Navy was that of captain. The adoption of the grade was urged repeatedly by different heads of the Navy Department, and warmly seconded by the President in office but nothing came of their proposals.
On November 15, 1814, the Secretary of the Navy recommended:
It is now expedient to establish the grade of rear admiral .... leaving the promotions to vice admiral and admiral to future services, and an enlarged establishment.
The Naval Affairs Committee reported to the Senate on November 28, and emphasized the “cheerless prospect” before the naval officer in respect to promotion, and stressed the importance of the enlargement of the “range of promotion.”
In 1820, President Monroe emphasized the need of grades above that of captain in the naval service. He was confident that they would “essentially contribute, if not be absolutely necessary to due subordination and discipline in the service.” He again transmitted to Congress (December 2, 1822) a report from Secretary Thompson that provided for two grades in the service above that of captain—to be known as “commodore” and “rear admiral.” A year later he transmitted a plan worked out by Secretary Samuel L. Southard for re-organizing the naval establishment, urging the creation of the grades of vice-admiral, rear admiral, and commodore.
In his annual report (1830), John Branch, Secretary of the Navy, wrote:
When the U. S. marine was confined to a few frigates and smaller vessels no advantage could have been gained in any point of view for higher grades in the naval service than that of captain. But since the great increase in the number and size of United States vessels of war and as occasions arise for their combination into fleets or squadrons, other duties, arduous and responsible, and requiring the possession of superior nautical knowledge and general intelligence devolve upon their commanders. These higher degrees of qualification merit a correspondent elevation in rank and distinction. It has been supposed also, that superior rank has a tendency to secure the enforcement of discipline, inasmuch as the orders of a superior are more readily and faithfully observed than one of equal grade. The increase may certainly obviate some causes of irritation in the intercourse of the officers of the Navy with foreign powers, the least powerful of which have higher grades than are known in this service, and universally claim honors and precedence according to their rank. This must either be yielded or intercourse suspended; and this could not but result injuriously, should it be necessary for the United States vessels to cooperate with those of other nations in any difficult naval enterprise.
On December 27, 1832, Secretary Woodbury advised the establishment of flag rank. He would make the annual pay of an admiral $5,000; of a vice admiral $4,500; and of a rear admiral $4,000.
The next year President Jackson submitted a report on “The rules and regulations for the government of the Navy of the United States” prepared by the board of revision headed by Captain John Rodgers. This board was created by an Act of Congress approved May 19, 1832. Chapter 1, Article I read as follows: “Sea officers of the Navy of the United States shall take rank in the following order: admirals, vice admirals, rear admirals, captains, commanders (heretofore called masters commandant), lieutenants.”
Secretary Upshur, in his annual report for 1841, stated:
The rank of admiral is known in all the navies of the world except our own, it has existed through a long course of past ages, and has been fully tested in the experience of all nations. It still exists and is still approved. Our naval officers are often subjected to serious difficulties and embarrassments in the interchange of civilities with those of other countries on foreign stations. The admiral of England, France, or Russia, is not willing to admit he is of no higher grade than the post-captain of the United States.
Eight years later Secretary Graham proposed to add rear admirals to the naval service.
These repeated attempts to establish higher grades in the naval service aroused considerable comment in the press of the day, particularly in periodicals devoted to the interests of the Army and Navy. These service periodicals were whole-heartedly in favor of such grades, but many newspapers were outspoken in their denunciation of the idea. An anonymous writer in the Military and Naval Magazine of January, 1834, says:
The experience of all ages goes to prove that equality of rank is incompatible with discipline in any military establishment. Every combined force must have a chief as well in rank as in command. The title is of little consequence, but I see no objection to adopting the titles of the navies of Europe into our Navy.
A naval officer in the Army and Naval Chronicle says:
In foreign ports we meet men, superior in rank to our highest grades, commanding forces inferior to our own; and our officers behold men in other navies more highly rewarded for less services. These men of higher rank in case of collision would necessarily take precedence, and in the event of cooperation would take command, and thus gather the laurels that our exertions might have reaped.
Two weeks later in the same periodical an enraged citizen answered him hotly, and after several stinging remarks states that “the public interest no more requires the new grade of admiral to be added to the Navy than it does the bestowing of orders of nobility on all the diplomatic agents that represent the United States at the different courts of Europe.”
The Democratic Review of April, 1851, ridicules the idea of higher grades. The title savored too much of royalty. Their reasoning seems ridiculous to us at this time, though probably this journal and others like it had many warm adherents.
Not until the Civil War made the matter imperative did Congress make any definite effort to establish higher rank. On July 16, 1862, an act was passed providing for nine grades of commissioned officers in the Navy, the highest of which was rear admiral, to which not more than nine officers could be appointed. On the same day Captain David Glasgow Farragut was appointed the first rear admiral in the United States Navy. Two years later, Congress empowered the President to appoint one vice admiral from the list of acting rear admirals. His rank should be equivalent to that of lieutenant general. In recognition of his distinguished services at New Orleans and at Mobile Bay,
Rear Admiral Farragut was made vice admiral. A year after the Civil War, Congress created the grade of admiral, and provided that the number allowed in each grade of line officers above the rank of captain on the active list of the Navy, should be one admiral, one vice admiral, and ten rear admirals. The day after the act was approved Farragut was made admiral, giving him the distinction of being the first rear admiral, the first vice admiral, and the first admiral in the United States Navy. The grade of vice admiral vacated by Farragut was given to Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter. On the death of Admiral Farragut in 1870, Porter became admiral and Rear Admiral Rowan became vice admiral.
Three years later, Congress provided that the grades of admiral and vice admiral should not be filled by promotion, and that, upon the deaths of Porter and Rowan, these grades should cease to exist.
On August 5, 1882, Congress reduced the number of rear admirals on the active list to six, but on March 3, 1899, the Navy Personnel Act provided for eighteen rear admirals who were divided for pay purposes into two grades, the nine lower numbers being given the pay and allowances of brigadier generals, and the upper nine numbers received the same pay and allowances as officers of corresponding rank in the Army, that is, of major general. This act continued in force until May 13, 1908, when Congress provided different rates of pay for “rear admirals, first nine," and “rear admirals, second nine.”
By the act of August 20, 1916, provision was made for increasing the number of officers allowed in the different grades and ranks of the Navy, and that, hereafter: pay and allowances of officers in the upper half of the grade or rank of rear admiral, including the staff corps and including staff officers, heretofore permanently commissioned with the rank of rear admiral shall be that now allowed by law for the first nine rear admirals, and the pay and allowance of officers in the lower half of the grade or rank of rear admiral, including the staff corps, shall be that now allowed by law for the second nine rear admirals.
On March 2, 1899, the President was authorized to appoint an “Admiral of the Navy,” but with the provision that when the grade became vacant by death, the title should cease to exist. The Navy Personnel Act passed the following day made no mention of this grade, so the authorization for this grade was reenacted in the same words as a clause of the Naval Appropriation Act of March 3, 1899. The grade was immediately conferred on Dewey, who held it until his death on January 16, 1917.
The Naval Appropriation Act of March 3, 1915, provided that the commanders-in- chief of the Atlantic, Pacific and Asiatic fleets should be invested with the rank of admiral while on such duty, and that the officers second in command should have the rank of vice admiral, but only while on such duty. This act was repealed two years later (May 22, 1917), and the President was authorized to select six naval officers for the command of fleets, not more than three of whom should have the rank and pay of admiral while on such duty, and the remaining three to have the rank and pay of vice admiral.
By the act of August 29, 1916, it was provided that the Chief of Naval Operations should have the rank and pay of admiral while so serving, such officer to take rank immediately after the admiral of the Navy.