ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET is O. mere honorary distinction, which gives no command, but merely an increase of half-pay, his being £3, 7s. a-day, and that of an admiral £2, 2s. The title has been sometimes conferred on the senior admiral on the fist of naval officers, and was a short time held by the Duke of Clarence, afterwards William IV. In 1851 were appointed, for the first time, two admirals of the fleet,

The comparative rank of flag-officers and officers in the army has been settled as follows by his Majesty's order in council, in the reign of George IV: - The admiral and commander-in-chief of the fleet has the rank of a field-marshal in the army; admirals with flags at the main take rank with generals of horse and foot; vice-admirals with lieutenant-generals; rear-admirals with major-generals; commodores of the first and second class with broad pendants with brigadier-generals.

On the active list of admirals there were in 1873 three admirals of the fleet, thirteen admirals, fifteen vice-admirals, and twenty-five rear-admirals.

In addition to these, there were on the reserved list forty admirals and thirty-four vice-admirals; on the retired list forty-three admirals, fifty-five vice-admirals, and sixty-two rear-admirals. As to the numbers to be borne permanently on these lists, and the regulations according to which admirals are retired and reserved, under Mr Childers' retirement scheme, see NAVY.