Chief of Staff of the Navy (Spain)

The Chief of Staff of the Navy or Admiral Chief of Staff of the Navy (AJEMA) is the highest-ranking military officer of the Spanish Navy that, under the authority of the Defence Minister, exercises command over the naval branch and, as such, is the principal military advisor to the Chief of the Defence Staff, the Minister of Defence, the Secretary of State for Defence, the Under-Secretary of Defence and the National Defence Council.

Chief of Staff of the Navy
Jefe de Estado Mayor de la Armada
Emblem of the General Staff of the Navy
Flag of the Admiral Chief of Staff of the Navy
Incumbent Antonio Piñeiro Sánchez since 25 April 2023
Naval Staff Ministry of Defence
Style	The Most Excellent
Type	Highest-ranking officer in the Navy
Abbreviation	AJEMA
Member of	Naval Staff National Defence Council Council of Chiefs of Staff
Reports to	Minister of Defence
Seat	Spanish Navy Headquarters, Madrid
Nominator	Defence Minister After being discussed in the Council of Ministers
Appointer	Monarch Countersigned by the Defence Minister
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	Royal Decree of 13 July 1895
Formation	13 July 1895; 129 years ago (1895-07-13)
First holder	Zoilo Sánchez de Ocaña y Vieitiz
Deputy	Second Admiral Chief of Staff of the Navy
Website	(in Spanish) Website of the Spanish Navy Staff

Spanish Navy Headquarters

The JEMA has two main roles: the support role by which advice the Minister of Defence about the naval military policy, the JEMAD about how to use the personnel and their operative status, the SEDEF about the economic, armamentistic and infraestructure policies and the SUBDEF about the personnel and teaching policy and the operative role by which prepare the force for combat, instructs the military personnel, establishes the organization of its military branch and watches over the welfare of the personnel under his command and evaluates the needs of the Navy.^[1]

The AJEMA calls the meetings and coordinates the efforts of the Naval Staff (EMA), the main auxiliary body of the AJEMA, which assists him in the exercise of its competences and in the responsibilities assigned to it over the organization of the Navy, preparation of the troops and administration of the assigned resources. The EMA has a whole body of military officers at its service, and among the main officers include the Second Admiral Chief of Staff of the Navy, the Admiral of the Fleet (ALFLOT), the Admiral of Naval Action (ALNAV), the Admiral of Maritime Action (ALMART), the General Commander of the Marines (COMGEIM), the Commander of the Naval Air Fleet (COMFLOAN) and the General Commander of the Submarines Fleet (COMSUBMAR).^[2]

After the death of Admiral General Antonio Martorell Lacave on 31 March 2023, Admiral Carlos Martínez-Merello y Díaz de Miranda, second admiral chief of staff of the navy assumes the office ad interim.

History

The position of AJEMA was created on 13 July 1895 at the same time as the Naval Staff, which replaced the position of Under Secretary of the Navy. The office was reserved for officers with a minimum position of Rear admiral (Contraalmirante).^[3]

By Royal decree of 30 March 1899, the Undersecretary of the Navy was re-created and assumed the competences of the Military Secretariat and the Naval Staff, passing its owner to be called Under secretary of the Navy and Chief of the Central Naval Staff.^[4] The AJEMA position finally disappeared in 1900.

In December 1902, the Central Staff of the Navy (EMCA) was created, whose top official was once again a Chief under the name Chief of the Central Naval Staff.^[5] It was abolished again in August 1903.^[6] By the Law of 7 January 1908, which reforms the Institutes, agencies and services of the Navy, the EMCA was once again created. The AJEMA was granted the chair of the Board that informed the Minister of the Navy of naval matters, except if he did not possess the rank of Vice Admiral, which was then chaired by the Vice Admiral Chief of the Central Jurisdiction of the Navy and the AJEMA acted as a member.^[7] This law was developed by the Regulation of 17 January, which limited this position to officers of the rank of Vice Admiral or Rear Admiral.

On 20 October 1927, the EMCA is replaced by the Directorate-General of Campaign and Services of the Naval Staff (DGCSEM) in front of which there was a Vice Admiral with the title of Director-General of the same body. On 15 October 1930,^[8] the DGCSEM is suppressed, the Naval Staff (EMA) is created again and with it, Chief of Staff of the navy (on which the Naval War College directly depended), although it will not be until December 1930 that the name of the Director-General passes to that of AJEMA.

During the Civil War, each side of the conflict established its own Naval Staff. While the rebellious side maintained the Naval Staff, the Republican side had mainly the Marine Staff, although briefly the Central Staff of the Naval Forces of the Republic was created afterwards.

After the end of the civil war, the Francoism divided again the ministries destined to the defense in three, one for each army branch and maintained the Naval Staff that is maintained until today with the Chief or Admiral Chief of Staff of the Navy in front.

List

No.	Rank	Name	Appointed	Dismissed
1º	Rear admiral	Zoilo Sánchez de Ocaña y Vieitiz	14 July 1895[9]	19 March 1896[10]
2º	Rear admiral	Fernando Martínez de Espinosa y Echeverri[11]	19 March 1896[10]	22 October 1896[12]
3º	Rear admiral	Segismundo Bermejo y Merelo	22 October 1896[13]	1 April 1897[14]
4º	Rear admiral	Ismael Warleta Ordovás[11]	20 August 1897[15]	†9 August 1898[16]
5º	Rear admiral	Manuel Mozo y Díaz Robles	30 March 1899[17]	25 October 1899[18]
6º	Rear admiral	Antonio Terry y Rivas	25 October 1899	20 April 1900[19]
7º	Ship-of-the-line captain	Antonio Moreno de Guerra y Cróquer	20 April 1900	7 November 1900
8º	Rear admiral	José María Pilón y Sterling	20 April 1900	7 November 1900
9º	Vice admiral	Pascual Cervera y Topete	28 December 1902[20]	19 August 1903
10º	Rear Admiral	Federico Estrán y Justo	17 January 1908[21]	10 June 1909[22]
11º	Rear Admiral	José de la Puente y Bassave	10 June 1909[23]	19 April 1910[24]
12º	Vice Admiral	Joaquín María de Cincúnegui y Marco	19 April 1910[25]	27 September 1912[26]
13º	Vice Admiral	Francisco Chacón y Pery	27 September 1912[27]	4 July 1913[28]
14º	Admiral	Antonio Perea y Orive	5 July 1913[29]	5 September 1914[30]
15º	Vice Admiral	Orestes García de Paadín y García	5 September 1914[31]	19 January 1915[32]
16º	Admiral	José Pidal Rebollo	19 January 1915[33]	23 March 1918[34]
17º	Admiral	Adriano Sánchez Lobatón	24 March 1918[35]	21 November 1919[36]
18º	Admiral	José María Chacón y Pery	21 November 1919[37]	13 May 1920[38]
19º	Admiral	Gabriel Antón Iboleón	13 May 1920[39]	† 2 February 1924[40]
20º	Admiral	Ignacio Pintado Gough	8 February 1924[41]	10 June 1924[42]
21º	Admiral	Juan Carranza y Garrido	10 June 1924[43]	4 May 1927[44]
22º	Admiral	José Rivera Álvarez de Canero	4 May 1927[45]	28 November 1927[46]
23º	Vice Admiral	José Núñez y Quijano	28 October 1930	22 December 1930
24º	Vice Admiral	Juan Cervera Valderrama	28 November 1927[47]	21 August 1931[48]
25º	Vice Admiral	Francisco Javier de Salas González[49]	25 September 1931[note 1][50][51]	19 July 1936[note 2][52]
Beginning of the Spanish Civil War
Vacant from 19 July–2 September 1936[53][49]
Disputed	Corvette captain	Miguel Buiza Fernández-Palacios[note 3][54][note 4]	2 September 1936[53]	27 October 1937[55]
Disputed	Corvette captain	Luis González de Ubieta[note 4]	27 October 1937[55]	8 January 1939[56]
Disputed	Ship-of-the-line captain	Miguel Buiza Fernández-Palacios (2nd term)	8 January 1939	5 March 1939[56][57]
Disputed	Admiral	Juan Cervera Valderrama (2nd term)	28 October 1936[58]	1 April 1939
End of the Civil War
26º	Admiral	Juan Cervera Valderrama	1 April 1939	16 August 1939[59]
Functions assumed by the Ministry of the Navy from 16 August 1939[59] to 23 September 1942[60]
27º	Admiral	Alfonso Arriaga Adam	23 September 1942[60]	26 March 1951[61]
28º	Admiral	Rafael Estrada Arnaiz	26 March 1951[62]	17 October 1952[63]
29º	Admiral	Juan Pastor Tomasety	24 October 1952[64]	26 July 1956[65]
30º	Admiral	Felipe José de Abárzuza y Oliva	21 August 1956[66]	25 February 1957[67]
31º	Admiral	Santiago Antón Rozas	4 May 1957[68]	17 January 1963[69]
32º	Admiral	Jerónimo Bustamante de la Rocha	17 January 1963[70]	10 August 1963[71]
33º	Admiral	Fernando Meléndez Bojaro	10 August 1963[72]	25 February 1966
34º	Admiral	Rafael Fernández de Bobadilla y Ragel	26 February 1966[73]	6 May 1967[74]
35º	Admiral	Adolfo Baturone Colombo	6 May 1967[75]	29 October 1969[76]
36º	Admiral	Enrique Barbudo Duarte	7 November 1969[77]	7 July 1972[78]
37º	Admiral	Gabriel Pita da Veiga y Sanz	7 July 1972[79]	22 June 1973[80]
38º	Admiral	José Ramón González López	22 June 1973[81]	27 September 1975[80]
39º	Admiral (*)	Carlos Buhigas García	27 September 1975[82]	19 November 1977[83]
40º	Admiral (*)	Luis Arévalo Pelluz	23 November 1977[84]	15 January 1982[85]
41º	Admiral (**)	Saturnino Suanzes de la Hidalga	15 January 1982[86]	11 January 1984[87]
42º	Admiral (*)	Guillermo Salas Cardenal	11 January 1984[88]	31 October 1986[89]
43º	Admiral (**)	Fernando María Nárdiz Vial	31 October 1986[90]	18 May 1990[91]
44º	Admiral (**)	Carlos Vila Miranda	18 May 1990[92]	14 February 1994[93]
45º	Admiral (**)	Juan José Romero Caramelo	14 February 1994[94]	27 June 1997[95]
46º	Admiral (***)	Antonio Moreno Barberá	27 June 1997[96]	15 December 2000[97]
47º	Admiral General	Francisco José Torrente Sánchez	16 December 2000[98]	30 April 2004[99]
48º	Admiral General	Sebastián Zaragoza Soto	30 April 2004[100]	18 July 2008[101]
49º	Admiral General	Manuel Rebollo García	18 July 2008[102]	27 July 2012[103]
50º	Admiral General	Jaime Muñoz-Delgado y Díaz del Río[104]	27 July 2012	1 April 2017[105]
51º	Admiral General	Teodoro Esteban López Calderón	1 April 2017	27 January 2021
-	Admiral	Fausto Escrigas Rodríguez (acting)	27 January 2021[106]	10 February 2021
52º	Admiral General	Antonio Martorell Lacave	10 February 2021[107]	31 March 2023[108]
-	Admiral	Carlos Martínez-Merello y Díaz de Miranda (acting)	31 March 2023	26 April 2023
53º	Admiral General	Antonio Piñeiro	25 April 2023	Incumbent

(*) Promoted posthumously to Admiral General in 1999. (**) Promoted to Admiral General ad honorem in 1999. (***) Promoted to Admiral General while in office.

See also

• Chief of the Defence Staff
• Ministers of Defence
• Captain general of the Navy
• Spanish Navy
• Chief of Staff of the Army
• Chief of Staff of the Air Force

Notes

1. During his tenure as the naval department head, the Second Chief of Staff was in charge of the general naval staff.
2. De facto dismissed and arrested at the start of the Civil War.
3. Chief of the Naval Staff from December 1937 and 18 April 1938.
4. Chief of the Naval Staff:

   • Valentín Fuentes López (26 October–26 December 1937)
   • Miguel Buiza Fernández-Palacios (26 December 1937–18 April 1938)
   • Pedro Prado Mendizábal (18 April 1938–22 January 1939)
   • Julián Sánchez Erostarbe (22 January 1939–1 April 1939)