Following the deaths of Dixon and Rowan, Congress would not appoint another admiral or vice admiral until 1915, to the consternation of senior Navy officers who had to interact with higher-ranking counterparts in other nation’s navies.

When Farragut died in 1870, Porter was promoted to admiral and Irish-born Stephen C. In 1866, Farragut became the Navy’s first admiral and David Dixon Porter was promoted to vice admiral. Two years later, David Glasgow Farragut was appointed the Navy’s first vice admiral. This legislation also created several new ranks and established the following precedence, in descending order: rear admiral, commodore, captain, commander, lieutenant commander, lieutenant, master, and ensign. The outbreak of the Civil War necessitated a massive buildup of the Navy and an expanded rank structure to effectively organize the wartime service, and in 1862 Congress authorized thirteen rear admirals. This manifested itself in several ways, one of the most notable being a marked reluctance to establish ranks above captain. In the early republic and the antebellum period, Congress was very resistant to the creation of a large peacetime Navy. Although master commandant was changed to commander in 1837, this simple rank system survived intact until the Civil War. When the United States Navy was created by Congress in 1794, the legislation again provided for the ranks of captain and lieutenant “who shall be appointed and commissioned in like manner as other officers of the United States are.” In 1799, master commandant was authorized as a rank between lieutenant and captain. Navy’s predecessor, the Continental Navy, was established in 1775, the first set of Navy regulations stipulated the commissioned offices of captain and lieutenant.

The other posts in the series discuss warrant officer ranks () and enlisted rates and ratings (). The history of Navy ranks is equally complicated, and includes an assortment of ranks that no longer exist and some that have disappeared, reappeared, and disappeared again! In this part of a three-part series, we look at the evolution of the Navy’s commissioned officer ranks. Navy’s unique rank structure can be confusing. To outsiders, especially members of the non-maritime services, the U.S. By Nicholas Roland, Historian, Naval History and Heritage Command

Ranks in the civil war navy