Flag Officers Promotion Path (1545-1864)

In Elizabethan times the Navy Royal grew large enough to be organised into squadrons. The Lord Admiral when in command of the fleet usually commanded in his own squadron his second and third in commands Vice-Admiral and Rear-Admiral of the Fleet had specific command flags they would fly. The rest of the fleet also consisted of a Red Squadron a White Squadron and Blue Squadron As these squadrons grew, each was eventually commanded by an admiral of colour (with vice admirals and rear admirals commanding sections) however each admirals command flags were different and changed over time. Squadrons were ranked in order red, white, and blue, with admirals ranked and promoted according to their squadron.

1) History

In Elizabethan times the Navy Royal grew large enough to be organised into squadrons. The Lord Admiral when in command of the fleet usually commanded in his own squadron his second and third in commands Vice-Admiral and Rear-Admiral of the Fleet had specific command flags they would fly. The rest of the fleet also consisted of a Red Squadron a White Squadron and Blue Squadron As these squadrons grew, each was eventually commanded by an admiral of colour (with vice admirals and rear admirals commanding sections) however each admirals command flags were different and changed over time. Squadrons were ranked in order red, white, and blue, with admirals ranked and promoted according to their squadron. The organisation of the British 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.

Note: Admirals command flags changed regularly from 1545 until 1702 when the began to become standardised.

2) Promotion Path (1625 to 1805)

800px-British_Flag_Officers_promotion_path_1702_to_1805.png

Promotion of flag officers also took place in this order

  1. Commodore of the Blue became Commodore of the White as his next promotion
  2. Commodore of the White became commodore-of-the-red-first-class as his next promotion
  3. commodore-of-the-red-first-class became Rear-Admiral of the Blue as his next promotion
  4. Rear-Admiral of the Blue became Rear-Admiral of the White as his next promotion
  5. Rear-Admiral of the White became Rear-Admiral of the Red as his next promotion
  6. Rear-Admiral of the Red became Vice-Admiral of the Blue as his next promotion
  7. Vice-Admiral of the Blue became Vice-Admiral of the White as his next promotion
  8. Vice-Admiral of the White became Vice-Admiral of the Red as his next promotion
  9. Vice-Admiral of the Red became Admiral of the Blue as his next promotion
  10. Admiral of the Blue became Admiral of the White as his next promotion
  11. Admiral of the White became office-of-the-admiral-of-the-fleet as his next promotion

3) Promotion Path (1805-1826)

800px-British_admirals_promotion_path.svg.jpg

Promotion of flag officers also took place in this order

  1. Commodore of the Blue Ordinary became Commodore of the White Ordinary as his next promotion
  2. Commodore of the White Ordinary became Commodore of the Red Ordinary as his next promotion
  3. Commodore of the Red Ordinary became Commodore of the Blue as his next promotion
  4. Commodore of the Blue became Commodore of the White as his next promotion
  5. Commodore of the White became Commodore of the Red as his next promotion
  6. Commodore of the Red became Rear-Admiral of the Blue as his next promotion
  7. Rear-Admiral of the Blue became Rear-Admiral of the White as his next promotion
  8. Rear-Admiral of the White became Rear-Admiral of the Red as his next promotion
  9. Rear-Admiral of the Red became Vice-Admiral of the Blue as his next promotion
  10. Vice-Admiral of the Blue became Vice-Admiral of the White as his next promotion
  11. Vice-Admiral of the White became Vice-Admiral of the Red as his next promotion
  12. Vice-Admiral of the Red became Admiral of the Blue as his next promotion
  13. Admiral of the Blue became Admiral of the White as his next promotion
  14. Admiral of the White became Admiral of the Red as his next promotion
  15. Admiral of the Red became office-of-the-admiral-of-the-fleet as his next promotion

3) Promotion Path (1826-1864)

800px-British_admirals_promotion_path.svg.jpg

Promotion of flag officers also took place in this order

  1. Commodore of the Blue Second Class became Commodore of the White First Class as his next promotion
  2. Commodore of the White First Class became Commodore of the Red First Class as his next promotion
  3. Commodore of the Red First Class became Rear-Admiral of the Blue as his next promotion
  4. Rear-Admiral of the Blue became Rear-Admiral of the White as his next promotion
  5. Rear-Admiral of the White became Rear-Admiral of the Red as his next promotion
  6. Rear-Admiral of the Red became Vice-Admiral of the Blue as his next promotion
  7. Vice-Admiral of the Blue became Vice-Admiral of the White as his next promotion
  8. Vice-Admiral of the White became Vice-Admiral of the Red as his next promotion
  9. Vice-Admiral of the Red became Admiral of the Blue as his next promotion
  10. Admiral of the Blue became Admiral of the White as his next promotion
  11. Admiral of the White became Admiral of the Red as his next promotion
  12. Admiral of the Red became office-of-the-admiral-of-the-fleet as his next promotion

3) Sources

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