Grand Admiral

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Grand Admiral

Grand Admiral is an historic naval

Navy

A navy is the branch of a nation's military forces principally designated for naval warfare and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions....
rank, generally being the highest such rank present in any particular country.

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Encyclopedia

Grand Admiral is an historic naval

Navy

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
— the German

German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
word is Großadmiral.

France

In Bourbon Restoration

Bourbon Restoration

Following the ousting of Napoleon I of France in 1814, the Allies restored the House of Bourbon to the France throne. The ensuing period is called the Restoration, following French usage, and is characterized by a sharp conservative reaction and the re-establishment of the Roman Catholic Church as a power in French politics....
France, the rank was an honorific one equivalent to that of Marshal

Marshal of France

The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements....
in the French Army

French Army

The French Army, officially the Arm?e de Terre , is the Army component of the Military of France and its largest. As of 2007, the army employs 134,000 regular soldiers, 15,500 reservists, and 25,750 civilians....
.

Germany

In the German Navy

German Navy

The German Navy The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet of the Revolutions of 1848 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy and became the Imperial Navy ....
, the rank was the equivalent of a British Admiral of the Fleet or a United States Fleet Admiral. It was created in 1901, and like Field Marshal

Field Marshal

Field marshal is a military officer rank. Today it is the highest rank in the armies in which it is used, one step above a general or colonel-general....
s its holders were authorised to carry a baton

Baton (symbol)

The word baton, from the French b?ton , has been used in English at least since 1590 to indicate a type of formal attribute of office in the shape of a rather short stick, shorter than a staff, not for use but an ornate symbol of authority, often worn with a uniform....
.

World War I

Before and during World War I

World War I

Kaiserliche Marine

The Kaiserliche Marine or Imperial Navy was the German Navy created by the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine....
(Imperial Navy):

Emperor Wilhelm II (1901)
King Oscar II of Sweden
Oscar II of Sweden

Oscar II , born Oscar Frederik was King of Norway from 1872 until 1905 and King of Sweden from 1872 until his death. The third son of King Oscar I of Sweden and Josephine of Leuchtenberg, he was a descendant of Gustav I of Sweden through his mother....
(1901)
Hans von Koester
Hans von Koester

Hans Ludwig Raimund von Koester was a Germany naval officer who served in the Prussian Navy and later in the Imperial German Navy. He retired as a Grand Admiral....
(28 June 1905)
Prince Heinrich von Preußen (4 September 1909)
Alfred von Tirpitz
Alfred von Tirpitz

Alfred von Tirpitz was a Germany Admiral, Secretary of State of the Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the Kaiserliche Marine from 1897 until 1916....
(27 January 1911)
Henning von Holtzendorff
Henning von Holtzendorff

Henning von Holtzendorff was a Germany admiral during World War I who became famous for his memo to Kaiser Wilhelm II about unrestricted submarine warfare against the United Kingdom....
(31 May 1918)

World War II

Before and during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, the following men were made Grand Admirals of the German Kriegsmarine

Kriegsmarine

The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy between 1935 and 1945, during the Nazi Germany regime, superseding the Reichsmarine, and the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I....
:

Erich Raeder
Erich Raeder

Erich Johann Albert Raeder was a Navy leader in Germany before and during World War II. Raeder attained the highest possible naval rank?that of Grand Admiral ?in 1939, becoming the first person to hold that rank since Alfred von Tirpitz....
, then-Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine, was made a Grand Admiral on 1 April 1939
Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz

Karl D?nitz was a Germany naval Commander who served in the Kaiserliche Marine during World War I and commanded the German Navy during the second half of World War II....
, commander of the U-Boat Fleet and later successor to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born Germany politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party....
, was made a Grand Admiral on 30 January 1943 upon succeeding Raeder as Commander-in-Chief.

The Kriegsmarine also used the rank of General Admiral

General Admiral

General Admiral was a Danish, Dutch, German, Russian, and Spanish naval military rank. Its historic origin is a title high military or naval dignitaries of early modern Europe sometimes held, for example the Commander-in-Chief of the Dutch Republic's navy ....
(Generaladmiral) which was senior to a full Admiral

Admiral

Admiral is the military rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above Vice Admiral and below Admiral of the Fleet/Fleet Admiral....
, but junior to a Grand Admiral.

Italy

The rank of Grand Admiral (in Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
, Grande Ammiraglio) was created by Benito Mussolini

Benito Mussolini

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, Order of the Bath Sovereign Military Order of Malta Order of the Tower and Sword was an Italy politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
in 1924. It was established primarily to honour Paolo Thaon di Revel

Paolo Thaon di Revel

Paolo Emilio Thaon di Revel, 1st Duke of the Sea was an Italy admiral of the Royal Italian Navy during World War I and later a politician.Thaon di Revel was born in Turin....
, who had been head of the Italian Regia Marina

Regia Marina

The Regia Marina Italiana dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification . In 1946, with the birth of the Italy , the Royal Navy changed its name as it was now the Navy of the Italian Republic ....
during World War I — he was the only person to be awarded the rank. It was equivalent to Marshal of Italy

Marshal of Italy

Marshal of Italy was a rank in the Italian Regio Esercito . Originally created in 1924 by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini for the purpose of honoring Generals Luigi Cadorna and Armando Diaz, the rank was granted to several other general officers from 1926 to 1943....
in the army.

Peru

The rank of Grand Admiral of Peru (in Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance languages that originated in northern Spain, and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile and evolved into the principal language of government and trade....
, Gran Almirante del Perú) was created by Peruvian Congress in 1967. It was posthumously

Posthumous recognition

File:US Flag-ceremony.JPGA posthumous recognition is a ceremonial award given after the recipient has died, usually in honor of an action associated with his or her death....
awarded to Miguel Grau Seminario

Miguel Grau Seminario

Miguel Mar?a Grau Seminario was a renowned Peruvian naval officer and hero of the Naval Battle of Angamos during the War of the Pacific . He was known as the el Caballero de los Mares for his chivalry and is esteemed by both Peruvians and Chileans....
who was a renowned Peruvian naval

Peruvian Navy

The Peruvian Navy is the branch of the Peruvian Military of Peru tasked with surveillance, patrol and defense on lakes, rivers and the Pacific Ocean up to 200 nautical miles from the Peruvian littoral....
officer of German ancestry and hero of the Naval Battle of Angamos during the War of the Pacific

War of the Pacific

The War of the Pacific, occurring from 1879-1883, was a conflict between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru. Also known as the "Sodium nitrate War", the war arose from disputes over the control of territory that contained substantial mineral-rich deposits....
(1879-1884).

Austria-Hungary

Anton Haus

Anton Haus was an Austrians naval officer. Despite his German surname, he was born to a Slovenian language-speaking family in Tolmein. Haus was fleet commander of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the First World War and was the Navy's Grand Admiral from 1916 until his death....
, commander of the Austro-Hungarian

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary, also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Kaiserlich und k?niglich Monarchy was a state in Central Europe ruled by the House of Habsburg, constitutionally a personal union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary....
navy for part of World War I

World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
, was given the title of Grand Admiral (Großadmiral) in 1916. No other active-duty officer (except members of the Imperial family) was ever given this rank (although Haus's immediate successor, Maximilian Njegovan

Maximilian Njegovan

Maksimilijan Njegovan was a Croatian admiral in the Austro-Hungarian Navy. He was the Navy's senior administrator as well as its fleet commander in 1917-18....
, was promoted to Grand Admiral on the retired list in 1918).

Grand Admiral

France

Germany

World War I

World War II

Italy

Peru

Austria-Hungary

Footnotes