Rear Admiral
 |
Insignia of a United States Rear Admiral Lower Half |
 |
Insignia of a United States Rear Admiral Upper Half |
Rear Admiral is a
naval commissioned officer rank that originated from the days of Naval Sailing Squadrons and can trace its origins to the
Royal Navy. Each Naval Squadron would be assigned an
Admiral as its head, who would command from the centre vessel and direct the activities of the squadron. The Admiral would in turn be assisted by a Vice, or
Vice Admiral, who commanded the lead ships which would bear the brunt of a naval assault.
In the rear of the Naval Squadron, a third Admiral would command the remaining ships and, as this section of the squadron was considered the least dangerous, the Admiral in command of the rear would typically be the most junior of the squadron Admirals. This has survived into the modern age, with the rank of Rear Admiral the first and junior-most of the Admiralty ranks of most navies.
In the
Canadian Forces, the rank of
Rear-Admiral (RAdm) (
Contre-amiral or
Cam in
French) is an
Navy rank equal to a
Major-General of the
Army or
Air Force. A Rear-Admiral is a
Flag Officer, the naval equivalent of a
General Officer. A Rear-Admiral is senior to a
Commodore or
Brigadier-General, and junior to a
Vice-Admiral or
Lieutenant-General.
The rank insignia for a Rear-Admiral is two gold maple leaves beneath crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by
St. Edward's Crown, worn on the shoulder straps of the
Service Dress tunic, and on slip-ons on other uniforms. The Service Dress tunic also features a wide strip of gold braid around the cuff. On the visor of the service cap are two rows of gold oak leaves.
Rear-Admirals are initially addressed by rank and name; thereafter by subordinates as "Sir" or "Ma'am", as applicable. Rear-Admirals are normally entitled to
staff cars.
In the
United States Navy and
United States Coast Guard, the rank of Rear Admiral is divided into two grades, being that of the Upper and Lower Half. This practice began in the late
19th century, when Rear Admirals would be assigned a seniority on the Navy or Coast Guard promotion list. Those on the upper half of the list would receive a higher rate of pay, even though all Rear Admirals were considered the same rank.
When the United States Navy and Coast Guard abolished the rank of
Commodore, which was also briefly known as "Commodore Admiral", Rear Admirals on the lower half of the promotion list assumed duties of one star admirals, although until the
1980s all Rear Admirals still wore two stars as their badge of rank. Since then, Rear Admirals (Lower Half) wear one star while Rear Admirals (Upper Half) wear two; verbal address remains "Rear Admiral" for both ranks. On correspondence, where the Rear Admiral's rank is spelled out, an (LH) and (UH) follows the Rear Admiral's rank title to distinguish between one and two stars. The military abbreviations for the ranks are RDML (one star) and RADM (two stars). The flags flown for Rear Admirals have one and two white, single point up stars on blue fields for the lower half and upper half.
In some European navies, the rank of Rear Admiral is known as
Counter Admiral.
In
The Simpsons episode,
Treehouse of Horror IV, the "rear admiral" is listed as a
school prank, along with the 'wet willie' and 'wedgie.'
*
Rear Admiral (Star Trek)
