Admiral of the White explained

Admiral of the White
Abbreviation:	AW

Admiral of the White was a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, immediately outranked by the rank Admiral of the Red (see order of precedence below). From 1688 to 1805 this rank was in order of precedence second; after 1805 it was the third. In 1864 it was abolished as a promotional rank.^[1]

History

The Royal Navy inaugurated squadron colours during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603) to subdivide the English fleet into three squadrons. There were three classes of admirals and differentiated by using coloured flags.^[2] In 1620 the official flag ranks of admiral, vice admiral, and rear admiral were legally established that arose directly out of the organisation of the fleet into three parts. The Royal Navy introduced the formal flag rank of Admiral of the Fleet in 1688.^[3]

The Admiral of the White was a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, immediately outranked by the rank Admiral of the Red. In 1864 it was abolished as a promotional rank.^[2]

Order of precedence

The Navy was divided into three squadrons Red, White and Blue in order of seniority. Admirals were appointed to these squadrons and therefore their rank and squadron split the seniority into nine bands with ‘Admiral of the Fleet' forming a tenth senior to all others.^[1]

Seniority was therefore from 1805 to 1864:

1. Admiral of the Fleet
2. Admiral of the Red Squadron (rank created in 1805)
3. Admiral of the White Squadron
   1. 1. Admiral of the Blue Squadron Vice-Admiral of the Red Squadron Vice-Admiral of the White Squadron
4. Vice-Admiral of the Blue Squadron
5. Rear-Admiral of the Red Squadron
6. Rear-Admiral of the White Squadron
7. Rear-Admiral of the Blue Squadron

Seniority was therefore from 1688 to 1805:

1. Admiral of the Fleet, (rank created in 1688)
2. Admiral of the White Squadron
3. Admiral of the Blue Squadron
4. Vice-Admiral of the Red Squadron
5. Vice-Admiral of the White Squadron
6. Vice-Admiral of the Blue Squadron
7. Rear-Admiral of the Red Squadron
8. Rear-Admiral of the White Squadron
9. Rear-Admiral of the Blue Squadron

Admirals without an appointment were colloquially referred to as Yellow Admirals. Ships of the Royal Navy flew the ensign that coincided with the squadron of their commanding officer.^[1]

See also

• List of command flags of the Royal Navy

Sources

• Perrin, W. G. (William Gordon) (1922). "Flags of Command: Admirals Flags". British flags, their early history, and their development at sea; with an account of the origin of the flag as a national device. Cambridge, England: Cambridge : The University Press.
• Squadron Colours" (2014), (PDF). National Museum of the Royal Navy.

Notes and References

1. Book: Perrin . W. G. (William Gordon) . British flags, their early history, and their development at sea; with an account of the origin of the flag as a national device . 1922 . Cambridge : The University Press . Cambridge, England . 76–109 .
2. Web site: Information sheet no 055: Squadron colours . nmrn-portsmouth.org.uk . The National Museum Royal Navy . 13 February 2019 . 2014 . 8 November 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201108050804/https://www.nmrn-portsmouth.org.uk/sites/default/files/Squadron%20colours.pdf . dead .
3. Web site: Naval Ranks . www.nmrn-portsmouth.org.uk . The National Museum of the Royal Navy . 13 February 2019 . Portsmouth, England . 2015 . 26 September 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190926071235/http://www.nmrn-portsmouth.org.uk/naval-ranks . dead .