Vice admiral Lieutenant general | ||
Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. In many navies, vice admiral is a three-star rank with a NATO code of OF-8, although in some navies like the French Navy it is an OF-7 rank, the OF-8 code corresponding to the four-star rank of squadron vice-admiral.
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Rank insignia
The rank insignia for a vice admiral often involves three stars, but this is not always the case. In the navy of Iraq, vice admiral insignia involves one star. In the navies of Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, China, Cuba, Iran, Mexico, North Korea, and Russia, vice admiral insignia involves two stars, and in the navy of Turkey, vice admiral insignia involves four stars.
Australia
In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vice admiral is held by the Chief of Navy and, when the positions are held by navy officers, by the Vice Chief of the Defence Force, the Chief of Joint Operations, and/or the Chief of Capability Development Group.
Vice admiral is the equivalent of air marshal in the Royal Australian Air Force and lieutenant general in the Australian Army.
Canada
In the Royal Canadian Navy, the rank of vice-admiral (VAdm) (vice-amiral or Vam in French) is equivalent to lieutenant-general of the Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force. A vice-admiral is a flag officer, the naval equivalent of a general officer. A vice-admiral is senior to a rear-admiral and major general, and junior to an admiral and general.
The rank insignia of a Canadian vice-admiral is as follows:
Two rows of gold oak leaves are located on the black visor of the white service cap. From 1968 to June 2010, the navy blue service dress tunic featured only a wide gold braid around the cuff with three gold maple leaves, beneath crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by a St. Edward's Crown located on cloth shoulder straps.
Vice-admirals are addressed by rank and name; thereafter by subordinates as "Sir" or "Ma'am". Vice-admirals are normally entitled to a staff car; the car will normally bear a flag, dark blue with three gold maple leaves arranged one over two.
A vice-admiral generally holds only the most senior command or administrative appointments, barring only Chief of Defence Staff, which is held by a full admiral or general. Appointments held by vice-admirals may include:
Charles, Prince of Wales holds the honorary rank of vice admiral in the Royal Canadian Navy.
France
In France, vice-amiral is the most senior of the ranks in the French Navy; higher ranks, vice-amiral d'escadre and amiral, are permanent functions, style and position (in French rang et appellation) given to a vice-amiral-ranking officer. The vice-amiral rank used to be an OF-8 rank in NATO charts, but nowadays, it is more an OF-7 rank.
The rank of vice-amiral d'escadre (literally, "squadron vice-admiral", with more precision, "fleet vice-admiral") equals a NATO OF-8 rank.
In the ancien régime Navy, between 1669 and 1791. The office of "Vice-Admiral of France" (Vice-amiral de France) was the highest rank, the supreme office of "Admiral of France" being purely ceremonial.
Distinct offices were :
Germany
Vizeadmiral is an OF-8 three-star rank equivalent to the German Heer and Luftwaffe rank of Generalleutnant.
India
In India, vice admiral is a three star admiral.
Italy
In Italy, the equivalent to vice admiral is the ammiraglio di squadra or squadron admiral.
Philippines
In the Philippines, the rank vice admiral is the highest-ranking official of the Philippine Navy. He is recognized as the flag officer in-charge of the Navy. The rank vice-admiral in the Philippines, has the same ranking in the U.S Navy.
United Kingdom
In the Royal Navy the rank of vice-admiral should be distinguished from the office of "Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom", which is an Admiralty position usually held by a retired "full" admiral, and that of "Vice-Admiral of the Coast", a now obsolete office dealing with naval administration in each of the maritime counties.
Vietnam
In Vietnam, the equivalent to vice admiral is the phó đô đốc.