Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom explained

Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom should not be confused with Rear admiral (Royal Navy).

Post:	Rear-Admiral
Body:	the United Kingdom
Incumbent:	General Sir Gordon Messenger
Incumbentsince:	6 December 2021
Appointer:	Monarch
Formation:	1683
First:	Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington

Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom is a now honorary office generally held by a senior (possibly retired) Royal Navy admiral, though the current incumbent is a retired Royal Marine General. Despite the title, the Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom is usually a full admiral. He is the deputy to the Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom, who is in turn deputy to the Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom (an office that was vested from 1964 to 2011 in the Sovereign and from 2011 to 2021 in The Duke of Edinburgh).

He is appointed by the Sovereign on the nomination of the First Sea Lord. The Admiral usually retires at 70 years of age, but there have been admirals, such as Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, who have been over 80 before they retired from their office.

Rear-Admirals of England

• Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington 1683–1687 ^[1]
• Sir Roger Strickland 12 December 1687 – 13 December 1688^[2]
• Sir Cloudesley Shovell 6 January 1705 N.S. – 1 May 1707

Rear-Admirals of Great Britain

• Sir Cloudesley Shovell 1 May 1707 – 23 October 1707
• vacant
• Sir John Leake 24 May 1709 – 1 August 1714
• vacant
• Matthew Aylmer, 1st Baron Aylmer 18 March 1719 N.S. – 18 August 1720
• George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington October 1720 – 17 January 1733
• Sir John Jennings 27 February 1733 N.S. – 1743
• Thomas Mathews 18 February 1743 – 1749
• Sir William Rowley 4 July 1749 – 1763
• Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke 4 January 1763 – 5 November 1765
• Sir Charles Knowles 5 November 1765 – October 1770
• Francis Holburne October 1770 – 14 July 1771
• George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney 17 August 1771 – 6 November 1781
• George Darby 6 November 1781 – 1790
• Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport 6 April 1790 – March 1796
• Sir William Cornwallis March 1796 – 1 January 1801

Rear-Admirals of the United Kingdom

• Sir William Cornwallis 1 January 1801 – 14 May 1814
• Sir William Young 14 May 1814 – 18 July 1819
• James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez 18 July 1819 – 21 November 1821
• William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk 21 November 1821 – 28 May 1831
• Sir Thomas Foley 14 June 1831 – 9 January 1833
• Sir George Martin 23 January 1833 – April 1834
• Sir Robert Stopford April 1834 – 5 May 1847
• Sir Thomas Byam Martin 5 May 1847 – 10 August 1847
• Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet 10 August 1847 – 19 August 1853
• Sir William Hall Gage 24 October 1853 – 6 November 1854
• Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, 1st Marquess do Maranhão 6 November 1854 – 31 October 1860
• Sir Graham Hamond, 2nd Baronet 22 November 1860 – 5 June 1862
• Sir Francis William Austen 5 June 1862 – 11 December 1862
• Sir William Parker, 1st Baronet 11 December 1862 – 16 May 1863
• Sir George Francis Seymour 16 May 1863 – 23 September 1865
• Sir William Bowles 23 September 1865 – 26 November 1866
• Sir Phipps Hornby 26 November 1866 – 19 March 1867
• Sir Fairfax Moresby 20 April 1867 – 17 July 1869
• Sir Provo Wallis 17 July 1869 – 12 February 1870
• Sir William James Hope-Johnstone 12 February 1870 – 11 July 1878
• Sir William Fanshawe Martin, Bt 19 September 1878 – 24 March 1895
• abolished under Queen Victoria; revived by King Edward VII
• Sir Edmund Robert Fremantle 25 July 1901 – 31 December 1926
• Sir Stanley Cecil James Colville 31 December 1926 – 22 March 1929
• Sir Montague Edward Browning 22 March 1929 – 13 February 1939
• Sir Hubert George Brand 13 February 1939 – 19 June 1945
• Sir Percy Lockhart Harnam Noble 19 June 1945 – 25 July 1955
• Sir John Hereward Edelsten 10 October 1955 – 12 October 1962
• Sir John Peter Lorne Reid 12 October 1962 – 11 March 1966
• Sir Alexander Noel Campbell Bingley 11 March 1966 – 1972
• Sir Nigel Stuart Henderson 11 January 1973 – 12 April 1976
• Sir John Fitzroy Duyland Bush 29 April 1976 – 1 August 1979
• Sir William Donough O'Brien 1 August 1979 – 1984
• Sir Leslie Derek Empson 1984 – 13 November 1986
• Sir Anthony Templer Frederick Griffith Griffin 13 November 1986 – 29 October 1988
• Sir Anthony Storrs Morton 29 October 1988 – 24 November 1988
• Sir James Henry Fuller Eberle 24 November 1988 – 17 January 1994
• Sir Nicholas John Streynsham Hunt 17 January 1994 – 6 November 1997
• Sir Jeremy Black 6 November 1997 – 30 April 2001
• Sir Kenneth Eaton 30 April 2001 – 2007
• Sir Gordon Messenger 6 December 2021 present

See also

• Lieutenant of the Admiralty
• Admiralty

Notes and References

1. Book: Charnock. John. Biographia Navalis: Volume 1: Or, Impartial Memoirs of the Lives and Characters of Officers of the Navy of Great Britain, from the Year 1660 to the Present Time. 2011. Cambridge University Press. 9781108026314. 264. en.
2. Web site: Sir Roger Strickland. Three Decks. 18 September 2019.