Rear Admiral
From Wookieepedia, the Star Wars wiki.
Rear Admiral was a naval rank, usually the lowest level of Admiral in a fleet, and the counterpart to the Army rank of Major General. The next rank up in seniority was Vice Admiral, while the rank below was Commodore. There is also some evidence for a semi-formal subordinate grade of Brevet-Admirals, necessitated by the vast expansion of military command responsibilities under the Galactic Empire, and later during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion.
The title existed in the Republic Navy at least as early as the Mandalorian Wars, when Captain Saul Karath was promoted to Rear Admiral in 3,963 BBY after the Battle of Vanquo.
However, almost the only Rear Admiral to be explicitly identified as such in the sources is the Imperial officer Michael Unther, who was promoted to Rear Admiral on retiring from active duty: somewhat bizarrely, he had previously been the commanding Admiral of a Sector Fleet, a statement which is hard to explain unless this had been a brevet posting. An analysis of rank insignia may help identify other Rear-Admirals, however—suggesting for example that Delak Krennel held this rank during his mission to Axxila in 4 ABY.
Due to the lack of evidence, it is hard to say with confidence what sort of duties Rear Admirals typically undertook in the navies of the Old Republic, Galactic Empire, Rebel Alliance, New Republic and Galactic Alliance. It can be suggested, somewhat tentatively, that officers of this rank may have commanded some individual Star Destroyers, or served as the flag officers for local squadrons and as the commodores of Systems Forces. But given that Admiral Unther was actually promoted to Rear-Admiral from a Sector Fleet command, it is not inconceivable that some Rear Admirals held the senior positions of Fleet Admiral and High Admiral within Sector Groups.
[edit] Appearances
- The Admiral's List: Jimas Veltraa Memorial Edition
- The Admiral's List: Karath Home Safely
- Star Wars Galaxies
- Inferno
- Star Wars Legacy 20: Indomitable, Part 1
