General admiral

General admiral or Admiral general was a Danish, Dutch, German, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish naval rank. Its historic origin is a title high military or naval dignitaries of early modern Europe sometimes held, for example the (nominal) commander-in-chief of the Dutch Republic's navy (usually the Prince of Orange). In Denmark, the General Admiral (Generaladmiral) was the term for the commander-in-chief of the Dano-Norwegian navy. The rank below the General Admiral was Lieutenant General Admiral (Generaladmiralløjtnant). Uniforms and insignia of the Kriegsmarine#Commissioned Officer ranks In the German Kriegsmarine of the Second World War, Generaladmiral was a rank senior to an Admiral, but junior to a Großadmiral. Generaladmiral was a four-star admiral rank, equivalent to a full admiral in the British and American navies. In the traditional German ranking system until World War II, an admiral was equivalent to a British or American vice admiral. The sleeve insignia for a Generaladmiral was the same as that of a regular admiral, being a thick rank stripe below three regular stripes ( in German naval parlance). Generaladmirals wore a third pip on their shoulder boards to differentiate them from regular admirals. The German Army and Air Force equivalent of Generaladmiral was the rank colonel general (Generaloberst). In 1943, a directive was issued that should the Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine ("commander of the navy") hold the rank of Generaladmiral, he would wear the sleeve insignia of a grand admiral, but the shoulder boards of a Generaladmiral. A similar practice was used in the German Army, allowing colonel generals to wear four pips on the shoulder board when engaged in duties befitting a field marshal. The rank of Generaladmiral was first given to the future grand admiral Erich Raeder on 20 April 1936.