44-555: Admiral John Lort Stokes (1 August 1811 – 11 June 1885) was a Royal Navy officer who served onboard HMS Beagle for almost eighteen years. Born on 1 August 1811, son of Henry Stokes, of Scotchwell, near Haverfordwest , Pembrokeshire , and Anne, daughter of Dr George Phillips, Stokes joined the Royal Navy on 20 September 1824. The first ship he served on was HMS Prince Regent , and then in October 1825 he joined
88-511: A broad band with three narrower bands. In 2001 the number of stars on the shoulder board was increased to four, reflecting the equivalence to the OF-9 four-star ranks of other countries. Prior to 1864 the Royal Navy was divided into coloured squadrons which determined his career path. The command flags flown by an Admiral changed a number of times during this period, there was no Admiral of
132-491: Is a high-ranking air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force . The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence . This rank is also equivalent to an Admiral in a navy or a full general in an army or other nations' air forces. The rank of air chief marshal is immediately senior to the rank of air marshal but subordinate to marshal of
176-459: Is a senior rank of the Royal Navy , which equates to the NATO rank code OF-9 , outranked only by the rank of admiral of the fleet . Royal Navy officers holding the ranks of rear admiral , vice admiral and admiral of the fleet are sometimes considered generically to be admirals. The rank of admiral is currently the highest rank to which a serving officer in the Royal Navy can be promoted, admiral of
220-463: Is appointed to the position of Chief of Defence Forces (formerly Supreme Commander), then he has always held the rank of air chief marshal. The last air chief marshal to be appointed Supreme Commander was Air Chief Marshal Voranat Aphichari who retired in 1994. In November 2007 it became known that Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn (now king of Thailand) had granted the title of Air Chief Marshal to his pet poodle Fufu . The dog died in 2015. Prior to
264-581: Is commemorated in the scientific name of two species of reptiles: Astrotia stokesii and Egernia stokesii . In 1848 Stokes Inlet and Lort River on the south coast of Western Australia were named by John Septimus Roe the Surveyor General of Western Australia while leading a five-man exploration expedition, commemorating Stokes' work on Beagle surveying the Western Australian coast. Admiral (Royal Navy) Admiral
308-547: Is normally a three-star air marshal. In March 1976, as part of a Pakistani Defence Ministry reorganization, the post of Chief of Air Staff , the head of the Pakistan Air Force, was upgraded from air marshal to air chief marshal rank. To date all Pakistani air chief marshals have been members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee . However, only Air Chief Marshal Farooq Feroze Khan has served as Chairman of
352-771: Is the current chief of the Australian Defence Force. In 2016 the Bangladeshi Chief of Air Staff position was upgraded from air marshal to air chief marshal rank. Since then the rank has been held by Abu Esrar , Masihuzzaman Serniabat , Shaikh Abdul Hannan , and Hasan Mahmood Khan . Throughout the 20th century history of the Royal Canadian Air Force , only two officers held the rank of air chief marshal. They were: Lloyd Samuel Breadner (promoted 1945) and Frank Robert Miller (promoted 1961). The rank existed on paper until
396-647: The Beagle , which was published in 1846 in two volumes. In July 1846 Stokes was promoted to captain and commanded the steamship HMS Acheron surveying New Zealand for four years. This was one of 26 hydrography surveys conducted by the British Hydrography Office around the world, and was also tasked with investigating natural resources and negotiating between British settles and the Maori inhabitants of New Zealand. Due to budget cuts, Acheron
440-589: The Chief of Defence Staff holds an active four-star rank . Retiring Commanders of the Sri Lanka Air Force are promoted to the rank of air chief marshal as an outgoing honour. Air Chief Marshal Donald Perera was the first CDS appointed from the Air Force and Air Chief Marshal Roshan Goonetileke became the first serving Air Force Commander to be appointed to the rank of air chief marshal as part of
484-663: The Thames to Scotland. This was part of an effort by Edward I to establish a permanent official staff, even if a permanent naval force was not yet considered necessary. Leybourne's immediate purview was subsequently divided into the roles of Admiral of the West and Admiral of the South while Botetourt's became the Admiral of the North ; the first and last merged as the Admiral of
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#1732773190797528-528: The second voyage of HMS Beagle , and shared his cabin with Charles Darwin who was on board in a private capacity as a self-funded naturalist. Following this, Stokes was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and served under Commander John Clements Wickham for a survey of Australasian waters. When Wickham was invalided in 1841, Stokes took command of the ship. While Stokes was in command, Beagle surveyed Timor and New Zealand , returning to England in 1843. When he returned he wrote an account of this voyage of
572-557: The 18th century, the original nine ranks began to be filled by more than one man per rank, although the rank of admiral of the red was always filled by only one man and was known as Admiral of the Fleet . After the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 the rank of admiral of the red was introduced. The number of officers holding each rank steadily increased throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1769 there were 29 admirals of various grades; by
616-591: The 1968 unification of the Canadian Forces , when Army-type rank titles were adopted and the rank of air chief marshal was replaced by that of full general . As no serving officers held the rank in 1968, no Canadian air chief marshals were regraded to general and Miller, the then only living retired air chief marshal, retained his rank. When Miller died in 1997 the Canadian rank of air chief marshal effectively passed into history. The 21st century re-creation of
660-705: The English long depended upon levies of their subjects' vessels for any major naval expeditions. Nonetheless, historians have sometimes extended the concept of an English navy and its supposed admirals and lord high admirals back as far as Alfred the Great , counting several kings as themselves admirals, along with various dukes and earls who commanded fleets at prominent engagements such as Hubert de Burgh off Sandwich in 1217 . Other lists begin their count at King Henry III 's appointment of Sir Richard de Lucy on 28 August 1223 or 29 August 1224. A similar commission
704-415: The Fleet rather than Algernon Frederick Rous de Horsey , who as senior active admiral nearing the age limit would customarily have received the promotion; John Baird became an Admiral; James Erskine a vice-admiral; and Harry Rawson a rear-admiral. Ironically, all these younger men would die at least a decade before de Horsey. In the time before squadron distinctions were removed or age limits instituted,
748-529: The Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee , the supreme commandant of Pakistan Armed Forces. Originally, a Pakistani air chief marshal's rank insignia was essentially the same as the RAF insignia. In 2006 the Pakistan Air Force changed the rank insignia for its officers , abandoning the ring insignia in favor of a Turkish Air Force-style featuring four stars and a crossed swords and laurel device. In Sri Lanka, only
792-565: The North and West in 1364; and from 1408–1414 they were all reunited as the High Admiral of England, Ireland, and Aquitaine , the forerunner to the present Lord High Admiral . (During this process, the short-lived post of Admiral of the Narrow Seas was used in 1412 and 1413. It was subsequently revived from 1523 to 1688.) The first royal commission as Admiral to a naval officer was granted in 1303 to Gervase Alard . By 1344, it
836-469: The RAF on 1 January 1927, no officer held the rank until Sir John Salmond was promoted on 1 January 1929. It has been used continuously ever since. In the RAF, the rank of air chief marshal is held by the serving Chief of the Air Staff (currently Sir Richard Knighton ). Additionally, RAF officers appointed to four-star tri-service posts hold the rank of air chief marshal. Throughout the history of
880-465: The RAF's highest rank. Additionally, Lord Stirrup was granted an honorary promotion to marshal of the Royal Air Force in 2014. The marshals are still to be found on the RAF's active list even though they have for all practical purposes retired. The rank insignia consists of three narrow light blue bands (each on a slightly wider black band) over a light blue band on a broad black band. This
924-543: The RAF, 141 RAF officers have held the rank and it has also been awarded in an honorary capacity to senior members of the British Royal Family and allied foreign monarchs. Although no serving RAF officer has been promoted to marshal of the Royal Air Force since the British defence cuts of the 1990s, British air chief marshals are not the most senior officers in the RAF as several officers continue to retain
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#1732773190797968-625: The Red rank until that post was introduced in 1805 prior to this the highest rank an admiral could attain to was Admiral of the White who then flew the Cross of St George . The next promotion step up from that was to Admiral of the Fleet. [REDACTED] Media related to Admirals of the United Kingdom at Wikimedia Commons Air chief marshal Air chief marshal ( Air Chf Mshl or ACM )
1012-684: The Royal Air Force. However, it was not until 1965 when Sir Frederick Scherger became Chairman of the Australian Chiefs of Staff Committee, and was promoted to air chief marshal that an RAAF officer attained the rank. Throughout the history of the RAAF, only four of its officers have held the rank. Apart from Scherger, they are Sir Neville McNamara (promoted 1982), Sir Angus Houston (promoted 2005) and Mark Binskin (promoted 2014). McNamara, Houston and Binskin are former Australian Defence Force chiefs; as of November 2024, Admiral David Johnston
1056-547: The Royal Canadian Air Force has not seen the rank revived and as of 2014 there are no plans for such a change. Army-style rank titles continue to be used although a return to the former insignia has been enacted. In official Canadian French usage, the rank title was maréchal en chef de l'air . In the Indian Air Force , the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) (currently ACM Amar Preet Singh ) holds
1100-442: The adoption of RAF-specific rank titles in 1919, it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navy 's officer ranks, with the word "air" inserted before the naval rank title. For example, the rank that later became air chief marshal would have been air admiral. The Admiralty objected to any use of their rank titles, including this modified form, and so an alternative proposal was put forward: air-officer ranks would be based on
1144-602: The air force . Only the Chief of the Defence Staff holds four-star rank . The first Nigerian Air Force officer to attain the rank of air chief marshal was Paul Dike upon his appointment as the Nigerian Chief of Defence Staff in 2008. Dike was succeeded as Chief of the Defence Staff in 2010 by Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin . In 2014, Alex Sabundu Badeh was appointed Chief of Defence Staff and promoted to air chief marshal. The Nigerian Chief of Air Staff
1188-716: The air force . Air chief marshals are sometimes generically considered to be air marshals. In the Royal Australian Air Force , this rank is only used when the Chief of the Defence Force is an Air Force officer. When this is not the case, the senior ranking Air Force officer is the Chief of Air Force , holding the rank of air marshal . With the establishment of the Australian Air Board on 9 November 1920, Australian Air Corps officers dropped their army ranks in favour of those based on
1232-698: The air staff have held the rank. In the Indian Air Force the honorary promotion of Arjan Singh to marshal of the Indian Air Force in 2002 resulted in Indian air chief marshals no longer being the most senior IAF officers until Singh's death in 2017. In the Namibian Air Force , the rank is known as Chief air marshal. The Nigerian air chief marshal is the second highest-ranking officer in the Nigerian Air Force , below Marshal of
1276-579: The close of the Napoleonic Wars in 1816 there were 190 admirals in service. Thereafter the number of admirals was reduced and in 1853 there were 79 admirals. Although admirals were promoted according to strict seniority, appointments to command were made at the discretion of the Board of Admiralty . As there were invariably more admirals in service than there were postings, many admirals remained unemployed, especially in peacetime. The organisation of
1320-469: The concept of yellow admirals (formally known as granting an officer the position of "Rear-Admiral without distinction of squadron"), being captains promoted to flag rank on the understanding that they would immediately retire on half-pay . This was the navy's first attempt at superannuating older officers. During the Interregnum , the rank of admiral was replaced by that of general at sea . In
1364-475: The crew of Beagle under Captain Phillip Parker King . Beagle was involved in a survey of the waters of South America. In 1828 the commander of HMS Beagle , Pringle Stokes (not related to John Lort Stokes), committed suicide and Robert FitzRoy assumed command; the ship returned to England in 1830 and was recommissioned. From 1831 to 1836 Stokes served under FitzRoy as assistant surveyor for
John Lort Stokes - Misplaced Pages Continue
1408-499: The death of James Hawkins-Whitshed resulted in ten men moving up to higher ranks. In 1996, the rank of admiral of the fleet was put in abeyance in peacetime, except for members of the Royal family but was resurrected on an honorary basis in 2014 for the appointment of Lord Boyce . Admirals of the fleet continue to hold their rank on the active list for life. The current ranks are rear admiral, vice admiral, admiral and admiral of
1452-563: The fleet being in abeyance except for honorary promotions of retired officers and members of the royal family. The equivalent rank in the British Army and Royal Marines is general ; and in the Royal Air Force , it is air chief marshal . The title admiral was not used in Europe until the mid-13th century and did not reach England before the end of that century. Similarly, although some royal vessels are attested under King John ,
1496-519: The fleet his deputy, the vice admiral , would be in the leading portion or van . Below him was another admiral at the rear of the fleet, called rear admiral . Promotion up the ladder was in accordance with seniority in the rank of post-captain , and rank was held for life, so the only way to be promoted was for the person above on the list to die or resign. In 1747 the Admiralty restored an element of merit selection to this process by introducing
1540-596: The fleet into coloured squadrons was finally abandoned in 1864. The Red Ensign was allocated to the Merchant Navy , the White Ensign became the flag of the Royal Navy, and the Blue Ensign was allocated to the naval reserve and naval auxiliary vessels. The 18th- and 19th-century Royal Navy also maintained a positional rank known as port admiral . A port admiral was typically a veteran captain who served as
1584-417: The fleet, also known as flag ranks because admirals, known as flag officers , are entitled to fly a personal flag . An admiral of the fleet flies a Union Flag at the masthead, while an admiral flies a St George's cross (red cross on white). Vice admirals and rear admirals fly a St George's cross with one or two red discs in the hoist, respectively. The rank of admiral itself is shown in its sleeve lace by
1628-411: The official ranks became admiral of the white and so forth, however each admiral's command flags were different and changed over time. The Royal Navy has had vice and rear admirals regularly appointed to the post since at least the 16th century. When in command of the fleet, the admiral would be in either the lead or the middle portion of the fleet. When the admiral commanded from the middle portion of
1672-475: The rank of Air Chief Marshal. The position of the CAS was upgraded from Air Marshal to Air Chief Marshal in 1966. The first IAF officer to hold this rank was Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh (later promoted to the five-star rank of marshal of the Indian Air Force ) who was promoted to the rank in 1966 while he served as the CAS. Post 1966, all the Indian air chiefs have held the rank. As of 2014, 19 Indian chiefs of
1716-471: The shore commander of a British naval port and was in charge of supplying, refitting, and maintaining the ships docked at harbour. The problem of promoting strictly by seniority was well illustrated by the case of Provo Wallis who served (including time being carried on the books while still a child) for 96 years. When he died in 1892 four admirals under him could immediately be promoted. By request of Queen Victoria , John Edmund Commerell became Admiral of
1760-528: The term "ardian", which was derived from a combination of the Gaelic words for "chief" ( ard ) and "bird" ( eun ), with the unmodified word "ardian" being used specifically for the equivalent to full admiral and general. However, air chief marshal was preferred and was adopted in August 1919. The rank was first used on 1 April 1922 with the promotion of Sir Hugh Trenchard . With Trenchard's promotion to marshal of
1804-740: The victory celebrations. The officer appointed to command the Royal Thai Air Force has been promoted to the rank of air chief marshal ( Thai : พลอากาศเอก , romanized : Phon Akat Ek ) since c. 1950 . The present commander is Air Chief Marshal Alongkorn Wannarot who is supported by the Deputy Commander-in-Chief (currently Air Chief Marshal Chanon Mungthanya) and the Assistant Commander-in-Chief (currently Air Chief Marshal Punpakdee Pattanakul). If an air force officer
John Lort Stokes - Misplaced Pages Continue
1848-615: Was given to Sir Thomas Moulton in 1264, who held the formal title of Keeper of the Sea and the Sea Ports. On 8 March 1287, Sir William de Leybourne was specifically commissioned as the Admiral of the Seas of England ( Latin : Admirallus Maris Angliae ) and, in 1294, captain of all sailors and mariners of the king's dominions. Sir John de Botetourt served under him as warden at sea from
1892-424: Was only used as a rank at sea for a captain in charge of one or more fleets. In Elizabethan times the fleet grew large enough to be organised into squadrons . The squadron's admiral flew a red ensign , the vice admirals white , and the rear admirals blue on the aft mast of his ship. As the squadrons grew, each was eventually commanded by an admiral (with vice admirals and rear admirals commanding sections) and
1936-530: Was replaced by a smaller vessel, HMS Pandora from 1851 to 1856. The charts produced by Stokes remain in use to this day. From 1860 to 1863 Stokes commanded the ship HMS Rose , surveying the coasts of the English Channel . He retired in 1863, was promoted to the rank of rear admiral in 1863, vice-admiral in 1871 and admiral in 1877. He died on 11 June 1885 at his home in Scotchwell. Stokes
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