ADMIRAL (Arabic amir-al or emir-al, °commander of the"— whatever follows it), the highest rank of naval officer; the title of the general officer who commands a fleet or a subdivision of a fleet. As a naval term the word appears to have been used first by the Sicilians and then by the Genoese, from whom it was taken by the French during the cru sades of the 13th century. By the end of that century the word had come into use in Eng land to designate the officer in command of the Cinque Port ships. The French preserved the word without change, as amiral, and in France it was borne as the title of an office by the military, judicial and administrative of ficer known as grand amiral, in England as lord high admiral and in Spain as almirante mayor. In Spanish and Portuguese the word has developed into almirante, supposedly being derived from the Latin admirari, since the ad miral °is to be for surmounting all dangers and difficulties; both in Spanish and in Elizabethan English the word has been ap plied to the flagship of the commander of a fleet, the Spanish almiranta being the ship of the second in command and the capitana the ship of the ranking officer. In England the early forms were amyrell, and admyrall, the present form arising from a confusion with the Latin admirabilis. The first English ad miral was William de Leybourne (1286) but he did not command the sea forces, his duties corresponding to those afterward vested in the lord high admiral, viz., the administrative pow ers now delegated to the lords commissioners of the admiralty and the judicial authority now belonging to thehigh court of admiralty. From 1632-50, from 1685-1702 and from 170- 1827 the duties of the office were performed by a board of commissioners, while under the Commonwealth a committee of Parliament ad ministered the office. The last lord high ad miral was the Duke of Clarence, afterward William IV. When he resigned in 1828 the office was put in commission, in accordance with a previous practice. In Spain the title of admiral is an hereditary honor still borne by the descendants of Columbus, the Dukes of Veraqua.
In the modern navy the admirals corre spond to the general officers of the army, In the British navy there are four classes. There is an admiral of the fleet, corresponding to the field marshal and conferred at the sov ereign's will, but it is little more than an hon orary distinction. The three active ranks are those of admiral, vice-admiral and rear admiral, ranking respectively with general, lieutenant-general and major-general. In for mer times there were also three subdivisions of each grade known as admirals (or vice- or rear-admirals) of the red, the white and the blue respectively; the color of the flag flown by the admiral (hence called flag-officer) cor responded with his section and all the ensigns and pennants of all ships under his command were of the same hue. This distinction is now abolished. The sea pay of an admiral of the fleet is £6 per day, of an admiral f5, of a vice-admiral f4 and of a rear-admiral f3; and an admiral commanding-in-chief is allowed 13 per day additional at home and L-4 10s. abroad, as table money. In the British navy the vice and rear-admiral are also honorary titles, with out the active functions, conferred in compli ment on senior naval officers. The former ex
tensive functions of the admiral have been absorbed by the Crown and have been divided among other officials. In Russia the highest rank is that of lieutenant admiral-general. In other foreign navies there are admirals, vice admirals and rear-admirals, whose duties cor respond, save in minor details, to those of the above officers.
In the United States navy the three ranks of admirals were adopted during the Civil War period, the rank of rear-admiral being es tablished by Congress in 1862 (as was also that of commodore, though this title had pre viously existed as one of courtesy, but without legal sanction); the rank of in 1864, when Lincoln was authorized to promote one of the rear-admirals to that position; and the rank of admiral in 1866, when Congress enacted a law providing an active list of one admiral, one vice-admiral and 10 rear-admirals. Originally these three grades were established for the express purpose of conferring excep tional honors and distinction upon David Glas gow Farragut (q.v.) and in order he became the first rear-admiral, first vice-admiral and first admiral. In 1866, when the rank of ad miral was established and Farragut had as sumed the rank, Rear-Admiral David D. Porter (q.v.) was promoted to vice-admiral, and in 1870, on Farragut's death, he became admiral. Rear-Admiral Stephen C. Rowan then became vice-admiral, but he died in 1890 and Porter in 1891, whereupon both grades were abolished. In 1899 the grade of admiral of the navy was established by Congress and conferred upon George Dewey (q.v.) as a reward for services at Manila Bay. This rank is a grade above admiral and resembles the rank of admiral of the fleet in the British navy. In 1882 Congress reduced the number of rear-admirals to six and the number of commodores to 10, but in 1899 increased the number of rear-admirals to 18, comprising two classes of nine each, and abolished the grade of commodore on the active list. The rank of rear-admiral is also borne by the chiefs of the Navy Department bureaus during their term of office. Originally the admiral, vice-admiral and rear-admiral of the navy corresponded to the general, lieutenant-general and major general of the -army, and various acts after 1862 confirmed these provisions, but the act of 1899, which abolished the rank of com modore, provided that the senior nine rear admirals should rank with major-generals and the junior nine rear-admirals with brigadier generals. The admiral of the navy and ad miral receive $13,500 annually; senior nine rear-admirals, $8,000; and junior nine rear admirals, $6,000; while an additional 10 per cent above these amounts is allowed for sea duty or shore duty beyond the continental limits of the United States. A retired officer receives 75 per cent of his active pay at time of retirement. The flag of the American ad miral, which flies at the main, is rectangular and blue, with four white stars; that of the vice-admiral, flown at the fore, is similar but has only three stars; that of a rear-admiral, flown at the mizzen, is similar in shape but has only two stars and usually is blue, but if two or more rear-admirals be together, the senior flies a blue flag and the others red. See UNITED STATES, NAVY OF THE, and similar articles under the titles of the various nations.