Well, since we had a military version, I felt we ought to have a naval version as well.
I'm going to have to open the account with Admiral of the Fleet Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope KT, GCB, OM, DSO and two Bars
His work in the Med in the second world war helped turn the tide in Europe, and his restructuring of the navy post ww2 was very insightful. A capital man in my opinion!
In British terms, a close second would have to be Duncan of Camperdown fame, and in world terms Admiral Hipper.
Anyway, I open the floor!
Gaius Duilius of the Roman Empire, He was responsible for the major naval victory over the Carthaginians during the battle of Mylae thus setting the stage for the displacement of Carthage as the preminent naval power of the Ancient World
If any one even Mentions Halsey.. prepare to have EVERY Single thing he did debunked as orders from The War Department.
Yi Sun-sin and Patrick Stewart. That is all.
Wait.. we can use actors.. well then.. Admiral Riker for the Win. Just kidding..
Yi Sun-sin.. was he the Korean that like single handedly designed how to destroy Japan's entire navy back in the 1500s?
Yup, sure was. He built the famous turtle ships, I even have his story in the Cathay book
I'll mention the elephant in the room, Nelson.
SMc.
I've always been slightly hesitant about singing Nelson's praises. Don't know why. I think his tactics at Trafalgar have always seemed rather foolhardy to me. A great man, certainly, but I do feel that his successes have blinded the public to the achievements of other Naval officers of his time.
Nelson...Don't forget he made his name at the Battle of the Nile, not Trafalgar...
Trafalgar blinded everyone else to other British Admirals of the day, not the RN
Its tough to pick later Admirals because of so much other stuff going on in warfare, and beyond a certain point there is a lot of caution must be had in how biased historical texts are.
But Nelsons tactic of cutting the line was hailed as visionary by everyone of the age, and yes it was a risk, but dont all generals/admirals take risks?
I'd say Yi, followed by Nelson.
It's a shame Hannibal never got much time as a naval commander, since from what I've heard his tactics were pretty innovative on the few chances he did get at sea...
I would rank Max Horton - the father of British submarine force - among the best. Not only was he personally an able submarine commander, but it was his knowledge of submarine warfare and what works against it that enabled the UK to win the Battle of Atlantic against the Nazi Germany.
One of the feats of Horton in WWI was to take his submarine into the harbour of Constantinople - the capital of Ottoman Turkey - to torpedo a Turkish battleship on anchor. Talk about guts!
Not that Karl Dönitz or Chester Nimitz had also been able commanders, but I would rank Max Horton above them.