Admiral of the Navy (USA)
The rank of Admiral of the Navy was the highest achievable rank in the US Navy . The sole holder of this rank was George Dewey , whose appointment by the President , retroactively from 1899, was authorized by the Congress of the United States on March 24, 1903 with the following wording:
“Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President is hereby authorized to appoint, by selection and promotion, an Admiral of the Navy, who shall not be placed upon the retired list except upon his own application; and whenever such office shall be vacated by death or otherwise the office shall cease to exist. "
Under this resolution, the rank and position of Admiral of the Navy were settled with Dewey's death in January 1917.
Dewey's new rank, as simultaneously made clear by Congress, was higher than that of a four-star admiral and corresponded to that of an Admiral of the Fleet in the British Royal Navy . When the new five-star rank of Fleet Admiral was introduced in 1944 as the highest admiral rank, the US Navy declared that Dewey's rank was seniority, but there was no mention of a six-star admiral.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ CHAP 378, An act creating the office of Admiral of the Navy , United States Congress