List of Royal Australian Navy admirals

In 1936, Sir George Hyde became the first officer to be promoted to full admiral, one of only six members of the RAN to attain this rank as of July 2023.

As there are currently no appointments in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) at the five-star level, there is no prospect of a RAN officer achieving the rank in a professional (i.e. non-ceremonial) capacity.

With the current structure of the ADF, the rank of admiral is held only when an officer of the RAN is appointed as Chief of the Defence Force.

There was, however, an exception to this when Michael Hudson was promoted to admiral on the day of his retirement in 1991 by Prime Minister Bob Hawke in recognition of his six years of service as Chief of the Naval Staff.

William Creswell was the first officer, on 1 March 1911, to attain the rank of rear admiral in the RAN.