Navarch

Navarch, Navarchus or Nauarchus[1][2] (Greek: ναύαρχος, návarchos) is an Anglicisation of a Greek word meaning "leader of the ships", which in some states became the title of an office equivalent to that of a modern admiral.

[1][2] Such command structures reflected the fact that, especially early in the Classical period, fleets operated in close conjunction with land forces, and indeed, the title of navarch did not begin to appear until the time of the Peloponnesian War, when fleets began to operate more independently.

This separate title was originally used in cities that lacked an established naval tradition, Sparta being the most prominent, but entered broader use later, being adopted by the navies of the Hellenistic period states such as Macedon, Syracuse, the Ptolemaic Kingdom, the Seleucid Empire, the Achaean League, and Rhodes.

In the modern Hellenic Navy, návarchos is the highest rank, equivalent to full admiral.

The rank of full admiral is held in active service only by the Chief of the General Staff of National Defence, when he is a naval officer, and customarily given to the Chiefs of the Hellenic Navy General Staff, who normally carry the rank of vice admiral, on retirement.