Chief of the Royal Danish Navy

The Chief of the Royal Danish Navy is the professional head of the Royal Danish Navy.

History
Originally the commander of the navy was the King, with daily control given to the Admiralty and Commissioners College. The Admiralty existed from 1660 until the end of absolute monarchy in 1848. In 1852, the position of Navy Inspector (Flådeinspektør) is established as the commander of the navy. Following the Naval Law of 1909, the position was renamed the General Inspector for the Navy (Generalinspektør for søværnet). After the Naval Law of 1932, the vice admiral would become Chief of the Naval Command (Chef for Søværnskommandoen) and director of the Ministry of the Navy. In 1960, the position was renamed to Chief of the Navy (Chef for Søværnet). Following major reductions in the 1980s, the name was again changed, this time to Inspector of the Navy (Inspektøren for Søværnet). In 1990, the Marine staff and the position of Inspector of the Navy were abolished, resulting in all areas of responsibility being transferred to the Admiral Danish Fleet. Following the Danish Defence Agreement 2013–17, the Admiral Danish Fleet was disbanded and reorganised into the Naval Staff. On 1 January 2019, as part of the Danish Defence Agreement 2018–23, the name was changed to Chief of the Naval Command (Chef for Søværnskommandoen).

Navy Inspector
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! rowspan=2| No. ! rowspan=2| Portrait ! rowspan=2| Name (Birth–Death) ! colspan=3| Term of office ! rowspan=2| Ref. ! Took office ! Left office ! Time in office

General Inspector for the Navy
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! rowspan=2| No. ! rowspan=2| Portrait ! rowspan=2| Name (Birth–Death) ! colspan=3| Term of office ! rowspan=2| Ref. ! Took office ! Left office ! Time in office

Chiefs of the Naval Command
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! rowspan=2| No. ! rowspan=2| Portrait ! rowspan=2| Name (Birth–Death) ! colspan=3| Term of office ! rowspan=2| Ref. ! Took office ! Left office ! Time in office


 * -style="text-align:center;"
 * colspan=7| Vacant No chief following Operation Safari

Chiefs of the Navy
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! rowspan=2| No. ! rowspan=2| Portrait ! rowspan=2| Name (Birth–Death) ! colspan=3| Term of office ! rowspan=2| Ref. ! Took office ! Left office ! Time in office

Inspector of the Navy
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! rowspan=2| No. ! rowspan=2| Portrait ! rowspan=2| Name (Birth–Death) ! colspan=3| Term of office ! rowspan=2| Ref. ! Took office ! Left office ! Time in office

Chiefs of the Admiral Danish Fleet
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! rowspan=2| No. ! rowspan=2| Portrait ! rowspan=2| Name (Birth–Death) ! colspan=3| Term of office ! rowspan=2| Ref. ! Took office ! Left office ! Time in office

Chiefs of the Naval Staff
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! rowspan=2| No. ! rowspan=2| Portrait ! rowspan=2| Name (Birth–Death) ! colspan=3| Term of office ! rowspan=2| Ref. ! Took office ! Left office ! Time in office

Chiefs of the Naval Command
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! rowspan=2| No. ! rowspan=2| Portrait ! rowspan=2| Name (Birth–Death) ! colspan=3| Term of office ! rowspan=2| Ref. ! Took office ! Left office ! Time in office

Henrik Ryberg (born 1963)
 * 2
 * Rear admiral
 * Rear admiral
 * Rear admiral
 * 1 April 2023
 * Incumbent