Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom

Not to be confused with Rear admiral (Royal Navy).

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

Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom is a now honorary office generally held by a senior (usually 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 is currently vested in the Sovereign).

History

The office dates from 1683, when the experienced naval officer Arthur Herbert was appointed Rear-Admiral of England in order to provide support to the inexperienced Duke of Grafton (who was a natural son of Charles II) in the role of Vice-Admiral of England, to which he had been appointed at the age of 19. ^[1] In the 19th and 20th centuries it was not unusual for the Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom to succeed to the office of Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom. ^[a]

Until 1870 the Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom received a salary (in addition to half-pay), but in February of that year his remuneration (by then amounting to £324 9s per annum) was abolished by Order in Council. ^[2]

Rear-Admirals of England

• Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington 1683–1687* ^[3]
• Sir Roger Strickland 12 December 1687 – 13 December 1688 ^[4]
• 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 ^[5]
• Thomas Mathews 18 February 1743 – 1749 ^[6]
• Sir William Rowley 4 July 1749 – 1763 ^[7]
• 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* ^[8]
• Sir William Young 14 May 1814 – 18 July 1819*
• James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez 18 July 1819 – 21 November 1821* ^[9]
• William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk 21 November 1821 – 28 May 1831 ^[10]
• Sir Thomas Foley 14 June 1831 – 9 January 1833 ^[11]
• Sir George Martin 23 January 1833 – April 1834* ^[12]
• Sir Robert Stopford April 1834 – 5 May 1847* ^[13]
• Sir Thomas Byam Martin 5 May 1847 – 10 August 1847* ^[14]
• Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet 10 August 1847 – 19 August 1853 ^[15]
• Sir William Hall Gage 24 October 1853 – 6 November 1854* ^[16]
• Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, 1st Marquess do Maranhão 6 November 1854 – 31 October 1860* ^[17]
• Sir Graham Hamond, 2nd Baronet 22 November 1860 – 5 June 1862* ^[18]
• Sir Francis Austen 5 June 1862 – 11 December 1862* ^[19]
• Sir William Parker, 1st Baronet 11 December 1862 – 16 May 1863 ^[20]
• Sir George Seymour 16 May 1863 – 23 September 1865* ^[21]
• Sir William Bowles 23 September 1865 – 26 November 1866* ^[22]
• Sir Phipps Hornby 26 November 1866 – 19 March 1867
• Sir Fairfax Moresby 20 April 1867 – 17 July 1869* ^[23]
• Sir Provo Wallis 17 July 1869 – 12 February 1870* ^[24]
• Sir William Hope-Johnstone 12 February 1870 – 11 July 1878 ^[25]
• Sir William Martin, 4th Baronet 19 September 1878 – 24 March 1895 ^[26]
• abolished under Queen Victoria; revived by King Edward VII
• Sir Edmund Fremantle 25 July 1901 – 31 December 1926 ^[27]
• Sir Stanley Colville 31 December 1926 – 22 March 1929* ^[28]
• Sir Montague Browning 22 March 1929 – 13 February 1939* ^[29]
• Sir Hubert Brand 13 February 1939 – 19 June 1945 ^[30]
• Sir Percy Noble 19 June 1945 – 25 July 1955 ^[31]
• Sir John Edelsten 10 October 1955 – 12 October 1962* ^[32]
• Sir Peter Reid 12 October 1962 – 11 March 1966* ^[33]
• Sir Alexander Bingley 11 March 1966 – 1972 ^[34]
• Sir Nigel Henderson 11 January 1973 – 12 April 1976* ^[35]
• Sir John Bush 29 April 1976 – 1 August 1979* ^[36]
• Sir Sir William O'Brien 1 August 1979 – 1984* ^[37]
• Sir Derek Empson 1984 – 13 November 1986*
• Sir Anthony Griffin 13 November 1986 – 29 October 1988* ^[38]
• Sir Anthony Morton 29 October 1988 – 24 November 1988* ^[39]
• Sir James Eberle 24 November 1988 – 17 January 1994* ^[40]
• Sir Nicholas Hunt 17 January 1994 – 6 November 1997* ^[41]
• Sir Jeremy Black 6 November 1997 – 30 April 2001* ^[42]
• Sir Kenneth Eaton 30 April 2001 – 2007 ^[43]
• Sir Gordon Messenger 6 December 2021 – present ^[44]

Those marked with an asterisk went on to serve in the office of Vice-Admiral of England (or Great Britain or the United Kingdom).

See also

• Lieutenant of the Admiralty
• Admiralty

Notes

1. See office-holders with an asterisk below

References

1. Gardiner, Leslie (1968). The British Admiralty. Edinburgh: Blackwood. p. 38.
2. "175"  . Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu– via Wikisource.
3. Charnock, John (2011). 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. Cambridge University Press. p. 264. ISBN   9781108026314.
4. "Sir Roger Strickland". Three Decks. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
5. "No. 7173". The London Gazette . 24 February 1732. p. 1.
6. "No. 8302". The London Gazette . 14 February 1743. p. 2.
7. "No. 8863". The London Gazette . 1 July 1749. p. 4.
8. "No. 16898". The London Gazette . 14 May 1814. p. 1007.
9. "No. 17496". The London Gazette . 20 July 1819. p. 1277.
10. "No. 17767". The London Gazette . 24 November 1821. p. 2302.
11. "No. 18813". The London Gazette . 14 June 1831. p. 1167.
12. "No. 19016". The London Gazette . 25 January 1833. p. 170.
13. "No. 19146". The London Gazette . 15 April 1834. p. 676.
14. "No. 20731". The London Gazette . 7 May 1847. p. 1669.
15. "No. 20764". The London Gazette . 13 August 1847. p. 2950.
16. "No. 21488". The London Gazette . 25 October 1853. p. 2872.
17. "No. 21621". The London Gazette . 7 November 1854. p. 3362.
18. "No. 22450". The London Gazette . 23 November 1860. p. 4408.
19. "No. 22632". The London Gazette . 6 June 1862. p. 2901.
20. "No. 22689". The London Gazette . 12 December 1862. p. 6314.
21. "No. 22737". The London Gazette . 19 May 1863. p. 2632.
22. "No. 23017". The London Gazette . 26 September 1865. p. 4587.
23. "No. 23244". The London Gazette . 23 April 1867. p. 2433.
24. "No. 23518". The London Gazette . 20 July 1869. p. 4063.
25. "No. 23587". The London Gazette . 15 February 1870. p. 851.
26. "No. 24626". The London Gazette . 20 September 1878. p. 5219.
27. "No. 27338". The London Gazette . 26 July 1901. p. 4950.
28. "No. 33236". The London Gazette . 4 January 1927. p. 39.
29. "No. 33480". The London Gazette . 26 March 1929. p. 2084.
30. "No. 34599". The London Gazette . 17 February 1939. p. 1136.
31. "No. 37155". The London Gazette . 29 June 1945. p. 3409.
32. "No. 40607". The London Gazette . 14 October 1955. p. 5773.
33. "No. 42812". The London Gazette . 19 October 1962. p. 8161.
34. "No. 43921". The London Gazette . 11 March 1966. p. 2704.
35. "No. 45879". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 January 1973. p. 685.
36. "No. 46890". The London Gazette . 4 May 1976. p. 6391.
37. "No. 47919". The London Gazette . 3 August 1979. p. 9877.
38. "No. 50721". The London Gazette . 18 November 1986. p. 14834.
39. "No. 51521". The London Gazette . 3 November 1988. p. 12307.
40. "No. 52352". The London Gazette . 3 December 1990. p. 18646.
41. "No. 53552". The London Gazette . 20 January 1994. p. 847.
42. "No. 54946". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 November 1997. p. 12703.
43. "No. 56194". The London Gazette . 3 May 2001. p. 5329.
44. "No. 63647". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 March 2022. p. 5318.