Admiral of the fleet (Soviet Union)

The rank of admiral of the fleet or fleet admiral;[Note 1] Russian: aдмирал флота, admiral flota) was the highest naval rank of the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1955 and second-highest from 1962 to 1991.

This article is about the Soviet OF9-rank. It is not to be confused with the OF10-rank Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union. For the equivalent OF9-rank in Russia see Admiral of the fleet (Russia).
Admiral of the fleet
(Admiral flota)
Uniform shoulder strap (1955–1990)
Marshal's star (small version)
Country Soviet Union
Service branch Soviet Navy
RankGeneral officer
NATO rank codeOF-9 (1940-44, 55-91)
OF-10 (1945-55)
Formation1940 1st
1962 2nd
AbolishedMarch 1955 1st
1991 2nd
Next higher rankAdmiral of the fleet of the Soviet Union
Next lower rankAdmiral
Equivalent ranksGeneral of the army
Admiral of the fleet
1943-1944
1944-1955

The rank has a rather confusing history. It was first created by a Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in 1940 as an equivalent to general of the army, but was not used until 1944, when Ivan Isakov and Nikolai Kuznetsov were promoted to the rank.

The 1944 insignia featured four "Nakhimov stars", but when the rank was declared equivalent to the marshal of the Soviet Union in 1945, they were replaced with a single, bigger star to look similar to marshal's shoulder boards. The two existing admirals of the fleet were given this new 'big' marshal's star. So from 1945 to 1962, there was no intermediate rank equivalent to general of the army in between admiral and admiral of the fleet.

The rank was abolished in March 1955 with the creation of the rank of admiral of the fleet of the Soviet Union but restored in 1962 as the second-highest navy rank. Holders of the ranks were given a smaller marshal's star since then.

The rank has been retained by the Russian Federation after 1991.

History

According to Kuznetsov, the rank was conferred on him by Joseph Stalin in May 1944.

"In 1944," Kuznetsov wrote, "Stalin, quite unexpectedly for me, raised in Supreme Headquarters the issue of conferring on me the next military rank. At the moment we had no rank higher than admiral. I reported that foreign navies had a rank of admiral of the fleet. [So] it was decided to institute the rank of fleet admiral, with four stars on the shoulder boards. So I obtained the next rank of fleet admiral."

In 1948 Kuznetsov was demoted two grades to the rank of rear admiral. Soon before Stalin's death, however, Kuznetsov was again restored as a fleet admiral and was among the two admirals to receive the rank of fleet admiral of the Soviet Union upon its official creation in 1955, the other being Ivan Isakov.

Officers promoted to admiral of the fleet

From 1962 the sequence of ranks was:

  • OF-10 marshal of the Soviet Union (маршал Советского Союза) and admiral of the fleet of the Soviet Union (aдмирал флота Советского Союза)
  • OF-9 general of the army (генерал армии) and admiral of the fleet (адмирал флота)
  • OF-8 colonel-general (генерал-полковник) and admiral (адмирал)
  • OF-7 lieutenant general (генерал-лейтенант) and vice-admiral (вице-адмирал)
  • OF-6 major general (генерал-майор) and rear admiral (контр-адмирал)

The rank of admiral of the fleet was awarded to 10 officers:

See also
Junior rank
Admiral
(Ranks of the Soviet Navy)
Admiral of the fleet

(General of the army)

 Senior rank
Admiral of the fleet of the Soviet Union

Notes
  1. A literal translation of the Russian "aдмирал флота" would be "admiral of the fleet" (aдмирал - "admiral", nominative singular, флота - "of the fleet", genitive singular of флот, "fleet"). This equates in meaning and form with the Commonwealth rank "admiral of the fleet", but equally well to the rank "fleet admiral". Either translation is acceptable.

References
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