List of United States Navy four-star admirals

The Act of Congress of March 4, 1925, allowed officers in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard to be promoted one grade upon retirement if they had been specially commended for performance of duty in actual combat. Combat citation promotions were colloquially known as "tombstone promotions" because they conferred all the perks and prestige of the higher rank including the loftier title on their tombstones but no additional retirement pay. The Act of Congress of February 23, 1942, enabled tombstone promotions to three- and four-star grades. Tombstone promotions were subsequently restricted to citations issued before January 1, 1947, and finally eliminated altogether effective November 1, 1959. The practice was terminated in an effort to encourage senior officer retirements prior to the effective date of the change to relieve an overstrength in the senior ranks.

Any admiral who actually served in a grade while on active duty receives precedence on the retired list over any tombstone admiral holding the same retired grade. Tombstone admirals rank among each other according to the dates of their highest active duty grade.

The following list of tombstone admirals is sortable by last name, date of rank as vice admiral, date retired, and year commissioned.

	Name	Photo	Date of rank (VADM)	Date retired	Commission [4]	Notes
1	William L. Calhoun		16 Jun 1942	Dec 1946	1906 (USNA)[9]	(1885–1963) [26] Great-grandson of U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun.
2	Frank J. Fletcher		26 Jun 1942	May 1947	1906 (USNA)[9]	(1885–1973) Awarded Medal of Honor, 1914. Nephew of Navy four-star admiral Frank F. Fletcher.
3	Aubrey W. Fitch		28 Dec 1942	Jul 1947	1906 (USNA)[9]	(1883–1948) Superintendent, U.S. Naval Academy, 1945–1947.
4	John Howard Hoover		01 Jan 1943	Jul 1948	1906 (USNA)[9]	(1887–1970)
5	Alan G. Kirk		10 Sep 1944	Mar 1946	1909 (USNA)[9]	(1888–1963) U.S. Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg, 1946–1947; to Soviet Union, 1949–1952; to China, 1962–1963.
6	George D. Murray		29 Nov 1944	Aug 1951	1911 (USNA)[9]	(1889–1956)
7	Jesse B. Oldendorf		07 Dec 1944	Sep 1948	1909 (USNA)[9]	(1887–1974)
8	Arthur S. Carpender		03 Apr 1945	Nov 1946	1908 (USNA)[9]	(1884–1959) Superintendent, Admiral Farragut Academy, 1948–19??
9	Harry W. Hill		22 Apr 1945	1952-05-00May 1952	1911 (USNA)[9]	(1890–1971) Superintendent, U.S. Naval Academy, 1950–1952; Governor, U.S. Naval Home, 1952–1954.
10	Frederick C. Sherman		13 Jul 1945	Mar 1947	1910 (USNA)[9]	(1880–1957)
11	John L. Hall Jr.		10 Dec 1945	May 1953	1913 (USNA)	(1891–1978)
12	Oscar C. Badger II		13 Dec 1945	Jun 1952	1911 (USNA)[9]	(1890–1958) Awarded Medal of Honor, 1914. Cousin of U.S. Secretary of the Navy George E. Badger.
13	John D. Price		31 Aug 1946	Jun 1954	1916 (USNA)	(1892–1957)
14	Francis S. Low		12 Mar 1947	Jul 1956	1915 (USNA)	(1894–1964)
15	David W. Bagley		01 Apr 1947	Apr 1947	1904 (USNA)[9]	(1883–1960) Father of Navy four-star admiral David H. Bagley and Navy four-star admiral Worth H. Bagley; grandson of North Carolina Governor Jonathan Worth; aunt married U.S. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels; wife's aunt married Navy five-star admiral William D. Leahy.
16	Harold B. Sallada		11 May 1947	Oct 1949	1917 (USNA)	(1895–1977)
17	Arthur D. Struble		26 Apr 1948	Jul 1956	1915 (USNA)[27]	(1894–1983)
18	Russell S. Berkey		01 Jul 1948	Sep 1950	1916 (USNA)	(1893–1984)
19	John W. Reeves, Jr.		01 Apr 1949	May 1950	1911 (USNA)[9]	(1888–1967) General Manager, Los Angeles International Airport, 1950–1952.
20	C. Turner Joy		01 Aug 1949	Jul 1954	1916 (USNA)	(1895–1956) Superintendent, U.S. Naval Academy, 1952–1954.
21	Thomas L. Sprague		15 Aug 1949	Apr 1952	1917 (USNA)	(1894–1972)
22	John J. Ballentine		01 Nov 1949	May 1954	1917 (USNA)	(1896–1970)
23	Matthias B. Gardner		01 Oct 1950	Aug 1956	1919 (USNA)	(1897–1975)
24	Albert G. Noble		29 Dec 1950	Oct 1951	1917 (USNA)	(1885–1980)
25	Harold M. Martin		01 Feb 1951	Feb 1956	1919 (USNA)	(1896–1972)
26	Arthur C. Davis		12 Feb 1951	Apr 1955	1915 (USNA)	(1893–1965)
27	Laurance T. DuBose		30 Mar 1951	Jun 1955	1913 (USNA)	(1893–1967)
28	James Fife Jr.		09 Aug 1951	Aug 1955	1918 (USNA)	(1897–1975) Director, Mystic Seaport, 1956–1975
29	Frank G. Fahrion		28 Dec 1951	May 1956	1917 (USNA)	(1894–1970)
30	Joseph J. Clark		07 Mar 1952	Dec 1953	1918 (USNA)	(1893–1971)
31	Roscoe F. Good		27 Mar 1953	Mar 1958	1919 (USNA)	(1897–1974)
32	William K. Phillips		28 Jul 1953	Aug 1955	1918 (USNA)	(1894–1986)
33	John E. Gingrich		30 Jul 1953	Oct 1954	1919 (USNA)	(1897–1960)
34	Alfred M. Pride		09 Oct 1953	Oct 1959	1918 (OCS)[28]	(1897–1988)
35	Edmund T. Wooldridge		06 Apr 1954	Aug 1958	1920 (USNA)	(1897–1968)
36	Austin K. Doyle		07 May 1954	Aug 1958	1920 (USNA)	(1898–1970)
37	Stuart S. Murray		07 Dec 1955	Aug 1956	1918 (USNA)	(1898–1980) Nephew of Oklahoma governor William H. Murray.
38	Cato D. Glover Jr.		08 Dec 1955	Sep 1957	1919 (USNA)	(1897–1988)
39	John M. Will		17 Apr 1956	Jul 1959	1923 (USNA)	(1899–1981)
40	Byron N. Hanlon		01 Nov 1957	Oct 1958	1921 (USNA)	(1900–1977)

The rank of admiral was created in 1866 to honor the Civil War achievements of David Farragut. Upon his death, another Civil War hero, David D. Porter Jr., succeeded to the title. In 1873, Congress stated that further vacancies in the grade would not be filled, and the rank lapsed with Porter's death in 1890. Congress revived the rank in 1899 to honor George Dewey, stipulating that the grade would again cease to exist upon his death or retirement. In 1903, Dewey was promoted to the unique rank of The Admiral of the Navy, which during his lifetime was considered to be equivalent to an admiral of the fleet, but was later declared to be senior to the five-star grade of fleet admiral.

The Act of March 3, 1915, provided that the commanders in chief of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Asiatic Fleets would have the rank of admiral while so serving, and their seconds in command the rank of vice admiral. In 1916, the chief of naval operations was also made an admiral while so serving, ranking next after The Admiral of the Navy. The ranks of admiral and vice admiral were strictly temporary appointments for the duration of an officer's tour in designated billets, and the temporary admiral reverted to his permanent grade of rear admiral immediately upon vacating the office bearing the title.

In 1917, Congress accommodated the Navy's desire to reorganize the fleet by authorizing the President to appoint three admirals and three vice admirals for any six fleet command positions. All fleet command tours lasted one year except for the commander in chief of the U.S. Fleet, whose term was sometimes renewed for a second year, and the commander in chief of the Asiatic Fleet, whose command was considered a backwater. (The chief of naval operations was appointed for four years.) Officers would typically "fleet up" to admiral or vice admiral for their year of fleet command and then revert to rear admiral to mark time until mandatory retirement.

During World War II, the President was authorized to create as many admirals and vice admirals as he deemed necessary for the duration of the emergency. Most of these new creations retired at the end of the war, having been promoted to reward service in the fleet or headquarters, or to achieve parity with wartime counterparts. Although three- and four-star ranks remained temporary appointments, the practice of reverting to a lower grade pending retirement largely halted after 1942, when Congress authorized officers to be retired in the highest grade in which they served on active duty.[29] The rank of fleet admiral was created in 1944, and the four officers promoted to that grade were allowed to remain on active duty permanently.

By 1956, the Navy had equilibrated at a total of seven permanent billets bearing four-star rank: the chief of naval operations (CNO); the vice chief of naval operations (VCNO), the commanders in chief of the unified commands in the Pacific (CINCPAC) and Atlantic (CINCLANT); the commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet (CINCPACFLT); the commander in chief of U.S. Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean (CINCNELM) (retitled commander in chief of U.S. Naval Forces Europe (CINCUSNAVEUR) in 1960); and the commander in chief of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces in Southern Europe (CINCSOUTH). In 1965, an eighth billet was added when the chief of naval material (CNM) was promoted to admiral. Occasionally this count would fluctuate when a Navy officer was selected as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), as the chairman's four-star representative to the NATO Military Committee (USMILREP), or as the director or deputy director of central intelligence; or by special legislation.[23]

When the long-serving director of the naval nuclear reactor program, Hyman G. Rickover, was finally compelled to retire in 1982, his successor was promoted to admiral and appointed director of naval nuclear propulsion, institutionalizing the position as a permanent four-star billet. To compensate, another four-star billet was eliminated by merging Allied Forces Southern Europe with U.S. Naval Forces Europe. Similarly, when the U.S. Atlantic Fleet commander (CINCLANTFLT) was separated from the Atlantic unified commander in 1985, the number of four-star billets was conserved by eliminating the chief of naval material position. The U.S. Atlantic Fleet was replaced by U.S. Fleet Forces Command (COMUSFF) in 2006.

With the end of the Cold War, U.S. Atlantic Command was repurposed as the joint force trainer, becoming U.S. Joint Forces Command in 1999. The change in mission cost the Navy its traditional monopoly over that command, which has since rotated among all the services, but the Navy made up the difference through repeated appointments to other combatant commands and to the vice chairmanship of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (VJCS). All military commanders in chief were retitled "Commanders" in 2002, when the title of "Commander in Chief" was reserved solely to the President of the United States.