admiral

admiral

any of various nymphalid butterflies, esp the red admiral or white admiral

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Admiral

 

(from Arabic amir al bahr, “ruler on the sea”), a navy rank. It was first used in Europe in the 12th century in Venice and Genoa and later spread to the navies of other countries. In Russia admiral ranks (admiral general, admiral, vice admiral, and rear admiral) were introduced by Peter I in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The May 7, 1940, decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet created the following ranks in the USSR Navy: rear admiral, vice admiral, admiral, and admiral of the fleet; and in the navy engineering corps, engineer rear admiral, engineer vice admiral, and engineer admiral. On March 3, 1955, the rank of admiral of the fleet of the Soviet Union replaced the rank of admiral of the fleet, and on April 18, 1962, the rank of admiral of the fleet was reintroduced and added to all those existing.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.