Do admirals in the modern navy spend much or any time aboard ships or are they always on land?

July 9, 2004 6:06 PM

Do admirals in the modern navy spend much or any time aboard ships or are they always on land?
posted by badstone to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

Well, in the U.S. navy, we have the rank of Rear Admiral (Lower Half), which used to be called Commodore. Rear Admirals (LH) command carrier groups, so certainly during exercises and in wartime they'd be aboard the flagship of their group.

Above that, we have Rear Admiral (Upper Half), Vice Admiral, Admiral, and in wartime potentially Fleet Admiral. My understanding is that these are all administrative commands and might spend almost all of their time on land.

Ed Offley's Pen & Sword: A Journalist's Guide to Covering the Military is an excellent resource book if you're writing about the military.
posted by nicwolff at 7:00 PM on July 9, 2004

Response by poster: Thanks. I'm writing a sci-fi book and some military characters pop up here and there. It's about 50 years in the future, so I use the modern US military as my model for most of that stuff. (though the US doesn't exist in my book.) A lot of the information I need I can find with Google pretty easily, but yeah, I probably should just get myself one good solid reference. That book looks good. Do you know if Tom Clancy's nonfiction books are decent references?
posted by badstone at 7:15 PM on July 9, 2004

A thought: there's a blogger out there who goes by the name of "Neptunus Lex" -- and he's an active-duty Navy Captain (the rank just below a one-star admiral). He's done "sea duty," too, which I suspect you would like some knowledge of in your novel. You may be able to contact him and see if he would mind providing technical insight into Navy organization, customs, etc.

Good luck on the book!
posted by davidmsc at 7:46 PM on July 9, 2004

Response by poster: thanks for the tip davidmsc, that sounds promising!
posted by badstone at 8:03 PM on July 9, 2004

WE SAW THE SEA
Follow The Fleet, 1936 Movie
(Irving Berlin)
Sung by Fred Astaire

We joined the Navy to see the world
And what did we see? We saw the sea
We saw the Pacific and the Atlantic
But the Atlantic isn't romantic
And the Pacific isn't what it's cracked up to be

We joined the Navy to do or die
But we didn't do and we didn't die
We were much too busy looking at the ocean and the sky
And what did we see? We saw the sea
We saw the Atlantic and the Pacific
But the Pacific isn't terrific
And the Atlantic isn't what it's cracked up to be

They tell us that the Admiral
Is as nice as he can be
But we never see the Admiral
Because the Admiral has never been to sea

We joined the Navy to see the girls
And what did we see? We saw the sea
Instead of a girl or two in a taxi
We were compelled to look at the Black Sea
Seeing the Black Sea isn't what it's cracked up to be

Sailing, sailing home again
To see the girls upon the village green
Then across the foam again
To see the other seas we haven't seen

We owe the Navy an awful lot
For they taught us how to do the Sailor's Hornpipe
And they showed us how to tie a sailor's knot
But more than that, they showed us the sea
We never get seasick sailing the ocean
We don't object to feeling the motion
We're never seasick but we are awful sick of sea
posted by grumblebee at 10:46 PM on July 9, 2004

(I can't resist)

Gilbert and Sullivan
The First Lord's Song

[From HMS Pinafore]

When I was a lad I served a term
As office boy to an Attorney's firm
I cleaned the windows and I swept the floor
And I polished up the handle of the big front door
I polished up that handle so carefully
That now I am the Ruler of the Queen's Navy

As office boy I made such a mark
That they gave me the post of a junior clerk
I served the writs with a smile so bland
And I copied all the letters in a big round hand
I copied all the letters in a hand so free
That now I am the Ruler of the Queen's Navy

In serving writs I made such a name
That an articled clerk I soon became
I wore clean collars and a brand-new suit
For the Pass Examination at the Institute
And that Pass Examination did so well for me
That now I am the Ruler of the Queen's Navy

Of legal knowledge I acquired such a grip
That they took me into the partnership
And that junior partnership I ween
Was the only ship that I ever had seen
But that kind of ship so suited me
That now I am the Ruler of the Queen's Navy

I grew so rich that I was sent
By a pocket borough into Parliament
I always voted at my Party's call
And I never thought of thinking for myself at all
I thought so little, they rewarded me
By making me the Ruler of the Queen's Navy

Now, landsmen all, whoever you may be
If you want to rise to the top of the tree
If your soul isn't fettered to an office stool
Be careful to be guided by this golden rule
Stick close to your desks and never go to sea
And you all may be Rulers of the Queen's Navy
posted by CunningLinguist at 5:14 AM on July 11, 2004 [1 favorite]