Admiral of the navy is a senior-most rank of a naval service.
Some navies use the term admiral of the navy as a title bestowed upon a fleet admiral or other senior naval official. During the Second World War, the German Kriegsmarine referred to the senior most grand admiral as an admiral of the navy, known in German as Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine.
George Dewey is the only American ever promoted to the U.S. rank of admiral of the navy. He was promoted on March 24, 1903, retroactive to March 2, 1899. In 1944 the U.S. Navy Department declared the newly created five-star rank of fleet admiral to be junior to George Dewey's rank.
Famous quotes containing the words admiral and/or navy:
“I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”
—Larry Forrester, U.S. screenwriter, Hideo Oguni, and Ryuzo Kikushima. Richard Fleischer, Toshio Masuda, Kinji Fukasaku. Admiral Yamamoto (Soh Yamamura)
“Give me the eye to see a navy in an acorn. What is there of the divine in a load of bricks? What of the divine in a barber’s shop or a privy? Much, all.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)