the.com/rear admiral
Senior enough to have a flag, junior enough to still answer to someone.
means A naval officer rank just above commodore and below vice admiral, typically commanding a group of ships or a sector of fleet operations.
from From the old practice of dividing a fleet into three divisions for battle: vanguard, center, and rear. The admiral commanding the rearmost squadron was, literally, the 'rear admiral' — the junior of the three admirals (rear, vice, and the full admiral commanding the center). The 'vice' in vice admiral comes from the same scheme, commanding the van, or front.
- origin
- Commanded the rear ships of a fleet line
- rank tier
- One star below vice admiral, two below admiral
- navy quirk
- Split into upper and lower half grades
- first use
- Dates to 17th century British naval hierarchy