Grand Admiral

"The head of the New Republic fleet is Grand Admiral Ackbar. He is a genius tactician. A warrior of the mind."

- Imperial General Jylia Shale

Grand Admiral was a senior military rank in navies and starfleets, including those of the Imperial Navy and the New Republic Starfleet. It was held by Gial Ackbar, who acted as the commanding officer of the New Republic fleet during the Galactic Civil War. Following the Battle of Endor, a male individual served as the Grand Admiral of the remnants of the Imperial Navy and secretly fed information to the Republic under the guise of "the Operator".

Behind the scenes
Timothy Zahn, author of the 1991 Legends novel Heir to the Empire, introduced the rank of "Grand Admiral" for the villain of that novel, Grand Admiral Thrawn. Zahn wanted Thrawn to be a military leader rather than a political title-holder or darksider, but felt a normal Admiral would be too mundane. He therefore decided to use the title "Grand Admiral," which he had encountered while reading William L. Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich in the context of its use in the German Navy.

The title was incorporated into canon with the release of the 2015 novel Aftermath, written by Chuck Wendig.

Appearances

 * Aftermath