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)
“I wish to reiterate all the reasons which [my predecessor] has presented in favor of the policy of maintaining a strong navy as the best conservator of our peace with other nations and the best means of securing respect for the assertion of our rights of the defense of our interests, and the exercise of our influence in international matters.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)