Chief of Staff of the French Navy

The Chief of the Staff of the French Navy (Chef d'État-Major de la Marine, CEMM) is the head of the French Navy and responsible to the Minister of Defence for its preparation and deployment.

As a naval expert, he assists:
 * the chef d'état-major des armées for operations involving naval forces, as well as for planning and pulling-together future military means
 * the Prime Minister for safeguarding France's national maritime approaches

He has authority over:
 * the commanders of each of the naval wings:
 * the force d'action navale (FAN) ;
 * the force océanique stratégique (FOST) ;
 * the aviation navale (AVIA) ;
 * the fusiliers marins et commandos (FORFUSCO) ;
 * the territorial organization of the navy : préfets maritime and commandants de la marine, in mainland France and overseas
 * the following services and organizations :
 * direction du personnel militaire de la marine (DPMM)
 * direction centrale du commissariat de la marine (DCCM)
 * direction centrale des systèmes d'information de la marine (DCSIM)
 * direction centrale du service de soutien de la flotte (DCSSF)
 * direction centrale des travaux immobiliers et maritimes (DCTIM)
 * naval aeronautical service
 * over the état-major de la marine who oversees, through his four divisions (human resources, planning, programmes and logistical operations), the general direction of the navy.

He presides over the board of directors of the hydrographic and oceanographic service of the navy (SHOM).

Chefs d’état-major de la marine
List to 2008 From 26 August 1939 to 6 June 1943 the structure of the Frency Navy did not include an Etat-Major Général
 * vice-amiral Alfred Gervais : 22 January 1892
 * vice-amiral Edgar Humann : 21 September 1894
 * contre-amiral Charles Chauvin : 10 November 1895
 * vice-amiral Jean Sallandrouze de Lamornais : 15 June 1896
 * vice-amiral Jules Sallandrouze de Lamornais : 8 July 1898
 * contre-amiral Leonce Caillard : 15 July 1899
 * vice-amiral Amédée Bienaime : 1 May 1900
 * contre-amiral Ernest Marquer : 4 February 1902
 * contre-amiral Paul Campion : 18 February 1904
 * vice-amiral Charles Touchard : 3 February 1905
 * contre-amiral Charles Aubert : 1 November 1905
 * vice-amiral Charles Aubert : 23 May 1907
 * contre-amiral Laurent Marin-Darbel : 23 August 1909
 * vice-amiral Laurent Marin-Darbel : 9 September 1909
 * contre-amiral Paul Auvert : 15 February 1911
 * vice-amiral Paul Auvert : 28 mars 1911
 * vice-amiral Charles Aubert : 1 February 1912
 * vice-amiral Pierre Le Bris : 24 January 1913
 * vice-amiral Louis Pivet : 20 May 1914
 * vice-amiral Charles Aubert : 7 December 1914
 * vice-amiral Marie de Fauques de Jonquieres : 2 May 1915
 * vice-amiral Ferdinand De Bon : 10 March 1916
 * vice-amiral Pierre Ronarc'h : 17 May 1919
 * vice-amiral Henri Salaun : 1 February 1920
 * vice-amiral Maurice Grasset : 1 February 1921
 * vice-amiral Henri Salaun : 22 July 1924
 * vice-amiral Louis Violette : 1 January 1928
 * vice-amiral Georges Durand-Viel : 16 February 1931
 * vice-amiral François Darlan : 1 January 1937
 * amiral de la Flotte François Darlan : 24 June 1939
 * vice-amiral d'escadre André Lemonier : 6 June 1943
 * vice-amiral Robert Battet : 31 May 1950
 * vice-amiral d'escadre Robert Lambert : 18 August 1950
 * vice-amiral d'escadre Henry Nomy : 26 October 1951
 * amiral Henry Nomy: 1 September 1953
 * amiral Georges Cabanier : 1 July 1960
 * amiral André Patou : 1 January 1968
 * amiral André Storelli : 1 May 1970
 * amiral Marc de Joybert : 1 February 1972
 * amiral Albert Joire-Noulens : 14 July 1974
 * amiral Jean-René Lannuzel : 1 August 1976
 * amiral Yves Leenhardt : 1 August 1982
 * amiral Bernard Louzeau : 30 January 1987
 * amiral Alain Coatanéa : 20 November 1990
 * amiral Jean-Charles Lefebvre : 1 July 1994
 * amiral Jean-Luc Delaunay : 2 May 1999
 * amiral Jean-Louis Battet : 1 July 2001
 * amiral Alain Oudot de Dainville : 15 June 2005
 * amiral Pierre-François Forissier : 4 February 2008
 * amiral Bernard Rogel : 12 September 2011

Equivalent roles

 * First Sea Lord, (United Kingdom)
 * Chief of Naval Operations, (USA)