Can some one tell me the order of Imperial Ranks?

Can someone tell me the Order of the ranks in the Imperial forces.

 

Navy



Grand Admiral



High Admiral



Fleet Admiral



Admiral



Vice Admiral



Rear Admiral



Commodore



Line Captain



Captain



Commander



Lieutenant Commander



First Lieutenant



Second Lieutenant


Midshipman/Ensign


Officer Cadet



Master Chief Petty Officer

Chief Petty Officer

Petty Officer

Senior Crewman

Leading Crewman

Crewman



Master Sergeant
Technician

Staff Sergeant
Technician

Sergeant Technician

Senior Technician

Leading Technician

Technician



Drafted Crewman

Drafted Technician




Army



Grand General



High General



Surface General



General



Lieutenant General



Major General



Brigadier General



Colonel



Lieutenant Colonel



Major



Captain



First Lieutenant



Second Lieutenant


Warrant Officer


Officer Cadet



Master Sergeant

Staff Sergeant

Sergeant

Corporal

Lance Corporal

Private



Master Sergeant
Technician

Staff Sergeant
Technician

Sergeant Technician

Corporal Technician

Lance Corporal Technician

Private Technician



Drafted Private

Drafted Technician




Starfighter



Grand Marshal



High Marshal



Force Marshal



Marshal



Vice Marshal



Flight General



Flight Colonel



Flight Major



Group Captain



Wing Commander



Flight Captain



Flight Lieutenant



Flight Lieutenant JG


Warrant Officer


Officer Cadet



Flight Officer

Flight Sergeant

Flight Cadet

Senior Spacecraftman

Leading Spacecraftman

Spacecraftman



Master Sergeant
Technician

Staff Sergeant
Technician

Sergeant Technician

Senior Technician

Leading Technician

Technician



Drafted Spacecraftman

Drafted Technician





COMPNOR


General


Colonel


Major


Captain


First Lieutenant


Second Lieutenant


Officer


Cadet



Senior Agent

Leading Agent

Agent



Master Sergeant

Staff Sergeant

Sergeant

Corporal

Lance Corporal

Private


Stormtrooper



General



Lieutenant General



Major General



Brigadier General



Colonel



Lieutenant Colonel



Major



Captain



First Lieutenant



Second Lieutenant



Field Officer



Officer Cadet


Master Sergeant


Staff Sergeant


Sergeant


Corporal


Lance Corporal


Private


Private Heavy
Weapon Specialist


Private
Veteran Trooper


Law Enforcement:


Law Officer 1. Class


Law Officer 2. Class


Law Officer 3. Class


Patrol Officer 1. Class


Patrol Officer 2. Class


Field Officer 3. Class


Field Officer

 

Thanx Buddy
but wats higher?
Moff or Grand Amiral???

 

Difficult to say. I think Grand Admirial should be higher than Moff. But Moff, despite haveing some military authority, tends to be more of a political rank it seems.

 

Grand Admiral is higher.

 

Isn't a Moff a person that runs or controls an entire system or a bunch of systems depending if they are a Moff or a Grand Moff. I think I read about this somewhere. If this is a high political position then how is a Grand Admiral a superior to a Grand Moff. Thats like saying the Attourney General is higher then the President.

 

He said Moff, not Grand Moff. Major difference there. A Moff only controls a sector, while a Grand Admiral, could in fact, command a large portion of the galaxy, depending on the size of the Empire.

I hope I'm right, because I don't want to look like an idiot.

 

A Grand Admiral is just a military position. If a Grand Admiral commanded a large portion of the galaxy that would make them very much like a hitler like dictator.

 

Yes, but it is the highest military power in the navy. This means a Grand Admiral would have thousands upon thousands of ships, troops, etc. under his command. Once again, a Moff is the leader of the army and navy in a prescribed sector, and also the political power. Yes, a Moff could have the advantage, due to that political power. But a Grand Admiral has more military power.

Once again, hoping I'm right.

 

Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, US Commander-in-Chief Pacific Fleet (CinCPac) WWII. Not like he was commanding US Navy and Marine forces in a large area when compared to Hitler dictating nearly an entire continent and portions of another. No, his command was just the largest ocean in the world, which could easily swallow all that Hitler ruled.

The point is that Grand Admirals could be put in charage of large tracts of the galaxy, though they would be in charge of the military in those areas, not the political situation.

 

I think the key to this vexed question is that the Empire is ruled directly by the military - or at least, in ANH, the civil administration is abolished, leaving power in the hands of provincial governors who, except in the Mofference in VotF, are always shown as wearing military uniform...

There are several indications in the EU that a Moff seems to outrank an Admiral - and perhaps rather emphatically so - while a Grand Moff certainly does... but what about a Grand Admiral?

In VotF and the NJO, the Council of Moffs (or "Mofference") remains the government of the Remnant... in VotF, Admiral Pellaeon, while holding the title of Supreme Commander (the title originally borne by Luke in Dark Empire), is - in spite of holding the rank of Admiral and the position of 'Supreme Commander' - subordinate to the Mofference, if not to the individual Moffs...

But in the NJO, the roles have been reversed, and the Mofference has become, in practice, an advisory body for Pellaeon... and at the same time, while retaining the title of 'Supreme Commander', and never being addressed as anything other than 'Admiral', Pellaeon has assumed the white uniform of a Grand Admiral.

This and the assumption of a GA's uniform by others who claim absolute power in the Empire (Isard, Zaarin, Zsinj, Harrsk) seems to show that the GA is associated with some sort of supreme power... Zsinj is the most interesting example... while both Aaron Allston and Dave Wolverton said repeatedly that he was "never formally promoted to Grand Admiral", neither of them ever actually said that he was just wearing the uniform... his status as absolute ruler of a sizeable chunk of the empire, while it is self-assumed, seems to make him a de facto GA, like Pellaeon...

The only exception I can think of is "Grand Admiral Larm", who seems to have been nominally subordinate to Moff Getelles, who ruled the Antimeridian sector "in the name of the Emperor" in Barbara Hambly's Planet of Twilight... Getelles while ignoring the warlords and the Remnant, had not bothered to promote himself... but his promotion of Larm was probably an irregular 'favour' to a man who, whatever rank Getelles may have given him, was always dependant on the Moff... indeed, Getelles may have been intending to use Larm as a figurehead in his drive into NR space, while remaining the power behind the throne...

In short... while Moffs and Grand Moffs apparently occupy the most senior positions within the integrated Imperial hierarchy of military and administrative commands, the governorships of Sectors and Oversectors, Grand Admirals, whatever they actually do, outrank them...

Moving back to the ranks thing... while what Zaarin has said is a relatively reasonable suggestion (is it from the Gamer?) it doesn't segue well with the evidence of either the canon or the EU, and it has a few flaws...

Firstly, there is no instance that I can think of of an Imperial "Lieutenant-Commander" or "Commander", in the sense in which these titles are used in real-world navies - "Commander" does seem to be a rank among Imperial blackshirts and NR fighter pilots, but it is equivalent to Brigadier or Commodore ('Commander' Dlarit, 'Commander' Convarion', 'Commander' Antilles), and also a generic term for senior officers - often senior officers with over forces from more than one service ('Commander' Kratas, 'Commander' Jerjerrod, 'Commander' Tagge, 'Commander' Skywalker, 'Commander' Thanas)... while the term "Star Captain" - used in the script to describe staff officers aboard the Executor needs to be fitted in somewhere, and, most puzzlingly of all, Soontir Fel became a Starfighter Command Major after he'd been a Navy 'Captain'...

I'd therefore suggest that the naval ranks should use something like the French/German system:

Ensign

Sub-Lieutenant (?)

Lieutenant

Captain Lieutenant (?)

Corvette Captain

Frigate Captain

Star Captain

Line Captain

Commodore

Rear-Admiral

Vice-Admiral

 

If by Military Ranks, one means the ranks within the Imperial Military High Command structure, then Grand Admiral and Grand Moff lie outside of this. The rank of "Grand Admiral" is not so much a rank as it is a title. The Imperial Military High Command cannot appoint or promote anyone to the Grand Admiral position, as it is an appointed position only, appointed by the head of the Empire.

Grand Admiral positions and Grand Moff positions hold a lateral relationship with each other. Both get their authority, power and limits to those directly from the Emperor. Therefore, if circumstances warranted a Grand Moff commanding five Grand Admirals, it will be done. If the circumstances warranted a Grand Admiral commanding five Grand Moffs[/i], it will be done. And, either position is also sub-servient to those who may also hold authority/power directly from he Emperor as well. If in an emergency the Emperor commanded his Emperor's Hand to get across the galaxy as quickly as possible using whatever is available, that Hand can order around even Grand Admirals, even if that Hand may only be a lowly Major, etc.

This makes for a convoluted system of redundant powers susceptible to back-stabbing and political alliances - just as the Emperor wanted it.

 

True, Ghengis...

But I do think that the way that both warlords and legitimist post-Endor Imperial leaders made use of the Grand Admiral's uniform suggests that it has connotations of supreme legitimate power - and remember, the role of an Emperor's Hand is limited by the fact that the Emperor's own ability to use the Force is not widely known...

- The Imperial Ewok

 

The Imperial Armed Services most likely employ the Anglo-American rank, rate, and rating system, rather than a Franco-Germanic style system.

The Empire was a cæsarist technocracy under martial law for at least two years after the Battle of Yavin (prior to the reïnstitution of the Imperial Senate, done no later than a few months after the Battle of Hoth; refer to Marvel Comics Star Wars #57: ?Hello, Bespin, Goodbye!?). During this period, Imperial magistrates (moffs and grand moffs) had free reign as chief executives, enjoying direct control over their territories without bureaucratic restrictions.

It is important to note that whilst Imperial governors are almost invariably depicted as wearing uniforms, this does not mean that governors are military personnel. In fact, the Imperial Sourcebook states that governors are bureaucratic agents, not military or naval personnel; the Technical Journal of the Imperial Forces states that governors? instructions are viewed as ?suggestions? by the Imperial regular armed servicemen, who are free to comply or disobey at their discression.

This would appear to conflict with various depictions of Imperial colonial administration. For example, in Splinter of the Mind?s Eye, the powerful semihuman Governor Bin Essada threatens Captain-Supervisor Grammel, then offers to promote him to colonel-supervisor. Similarly, in The Truce at Bakura, Governor Nereus is the commander-in-chief of the Imperial military and naval forces present at Bakura. Clearly, these administrators are military and naval servicemen.

It would appear that after the dissolution of the Imperial Senate, the magistrates were able to appoint military and naval servicemen as governors, tightening the level of martial control over the affairs of the governorships, protectorates, and colonies. Thus, Governors Essada and Nereus et al. probably hold high commissions in the Armed Services independently of their gubernatorial positions, making them military governors rather than bureaucratic governors.

It is interesting to note that magistrates are actually military officers who double as chief administrators of sectors and oversectors. Thus, the Grand Moff Tarkin outranked both High General Tagge and Rear Admiral Motti, independently of being commanding officer of the DMIBS and being a regional governor.

Because of this system, a moff outranks a high admiral or a surface marshal. As a grand moff outranks a moff, a grand moff ipso facto outranks a high admiral or a surface marshal. Nevertheless, the magistrates are apart from the High Command, which is the chief executive body of the Armed Services (analogous to the United States Deparment of Defense). In such a fashion, there would be regular servicemen who would be assigned to duty under certain magistrates, and servicemen who would be assigned to duty in ?roving? commands, such as the Death Squadron. The commander-in-chief of the Death Squadron, a fleet admiral, would be able to safely disregard the instructions of the chief administrator of a sector, who, as a moff, theoretically outranks the fleet admiral.

The position of grand admiral is distinct from both the colonial administration (the magistrates) and the High Command. A grand admiral is appointed by HIM The Emperor as his supreme executor in military and naval affairs, and is possessed of infinite seniority, and is able to command whatever resources he or she deems necessary for the achievement of his or her objective. I.e., if a grand admiral finds it germane to his or her purposes to relieve a grand moff of his or her gubernatorial responsibilities, the grand admiral may do so, the fact that grand moffs are created by HIM The Emperor notwithstanding.

The ambiguous position of Supreme Commander appears to be Lord Vader?s rank and title, given him in order to ensure that he has sufficient seniority to carry out HIM The Emperor?s will regardless of the circumstances. In this way, Lord Vader was able to give orders to Grand Admiral Thrawn in

 

Tears, as always a near-exceptional look at the command structure of the Empire.

And, as always, I take issue with a few - very few of the "mistakes" you've made regarding overlap of Grand Moff and Grand Admiral authority/power. Response is forthcoming.

 

Tears...

Well...

First, minor quibbles...

IIRC, Isard's uniform, is explicitly described as being a red GA's uniform... while this is practically no different from a red Imperial uniform with no rank badge, I'd view the choice of phrase as significant (yes, all this is probably unconscious on the part of all the authors, but hey, it works)...

Was Zaarin a real GA? Isn't he shown wearing a simple Admiral's uniform in those cutscenes set before his revolt?

And Vader... his position is rather complex... since he was, at once, Supreme Commander, a Warlord, and a Sith... I suspect you're right, though, about Vader's power being based on his closeness to the Emperor... but also, he was apparently subordinate to Tarkin - or certainly, not his superior...

Now... the meat...

Is there a sharp distinction between Governors and Moffs, ie between the administration of planets and systems and that of sectors and oversectors?

The Empire's planetary governors seems to be a varied bunch... a search of the Completely Unofficial SWE reveals that some are representatives of the natives, others are military men (typically, Generals), and others are local figures of influence...

Below the Governors, however, there are a variety of prefects and sub-prefects... some of them are deputies for Planetary Governors (and in turn, deputies' deputies...), but others are in charge of cities, or less-important planets in systems, or even have autonomous authority as the senior Imperial officers on unimportant planets like Tatooine...

All in all, though, the relatively consistent use of terminology... sub-prefect, prefect, Moff, Grand Moff... suggests that this is a formal hierarchy... while it might be waived for individual systems where a native Governor is appointed, much like the maharajas of British India's native states... or else for planets like Narg which are essentially private economic concerns... those instances are exceptions...

On Garqui, the 'Military Prefect' was the Governor's deputy and - given his title - presumably the nominal commander of the forces deployed there: the Military Prefect on Garqui when Corran Horn defected to the NR had been a colonel in the early days of the Empire...

I just don't buy into the idea that the administration is independant of the military, I'm afraid... while they're clearly not line officers, some evidently have been... and the claims that the military regard their commands as 'suggestions' is flatly contradicted by Tarkin's statement in ANH... the regional governors have direct control of their territories, in contrast to the 'bureacracy', which was a civil organ abolished along with the senate...

Some prefects are bureaucrats, but since the "bureacracy" of the Old Republic was abolished, I suspect that the Imperial military included its own bureacrats, and/or its members were put into uniform on the abolition of the civil bureacracy - a fact which might explain the incongruity of the situation of the colonial administration... it is an uneasy fusion of an existing system of administrators with military authority and bureacrats abruptly forced into uniform...

More clear and compelling is the fact that Moffs do undoubtedly have military aides with uniforms and ranks, from "Chief" Bast to Major Tierce by way of Ranulf Trommer...

So, who appoints all these people? The Moffs? The Grand Moffs? Is an Imperial High Command ever mentioned in the EU? I'd imagine that everything has to be at least vetted by some sort of central authority... but what?

I honestly don't know that you can rely on the Marvel series to argue that the Senate was restored... especially since the only central authority in the EU is the Mofference... and there's a clear continuity of administration by Moffs with little or no interference from other organs from Tarkin through Jerjerrod, Tavira, Getelles and Disra to Ephraim Saretti...

There is, in short, n

 

OK I can break the navy down a lot simpler. It's just ours

Admiral

Vice Admiral

Rear Admiral

Comodore

Captain

Commander

Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant

Lieutenant Junior Grade

Ensign

See, Grand Admiral, Moff, those ar positions and honorations. Youd have to be insane to have someting that big. Youd be dead by the time you reached Captain.

 

With respect, Slimybug, there are ranks attested in the canon (Star Captain) and in the EU (Line Captain, High Admiral) which can't be accounted for by simply mapping real-world USN ranks to the GFFA... and there are no Imperial "Lieutenant Commanders" or "Commanders" ever mentioned, while there are some Navy captains who are no higher-ranking than Air Force majors...

The same problems affect other parts of the Imperial Military and the NR far more acutely...

However, since the rank systems of SW should IMHO be based on real-world precedent, it makes sense to use a real-world system, closely related to that of the USN and RN, which actually fits much better...

- The Imperial Ewok

 

IIRC, Isard's uniform, IIRC, is explicitly described as being a red GA's uniform... while this is practically no different from a red Imperial uniform with no rank badge, I'd view the choice of phrase as significant (yes, all this is probably unconscious on the part of all the authors, but hey, it works)...

In The Bacta War, Mme Director Isard was described as having ?been given to wearing a uniform similar in cut to that of Imperial Grand Admirals, though hers was colored blood red, not white.? However, it is important to note that, with the exception of the epaulettes and the white colour, an Imperial grand admiral wore the same duty uniform as a regular service officer.

Mme Director Isard is never described as having worn epaulettes, and all illustrations of her make that same ommission. Her uniform is, therefore, not a red-coloured grand admiral?s uniform, but simply a red-coloured officer?s duty uniform.

The important detail of the grand admiral?s uniform which was most distinctive was not the epaulettes, but the white colour. This is why HSH The Prince-Admiral?s white-with-red-trim uniform is still suggestive of the same infinite seniority as the white-with-epaulettes uniform of a grand admiral (or, in the cases of the Warlord and Old Fuss and Failure, a grand admiral pretender).

Was Zaarin a real GA? Isn?t he shown wearing a simple Admiral?s uniform in those cutscenes set before his revolt?

Grand Admiral Zaarin was a correctly- and legitimately-created de facto and de jure grand admiral. He is described in The Essential Chronology as follows:

The first grand admiral to fall was Zaarin, when he attempted a coup d?état against the Emperor?just before Endor?and failed.

Now, then, moving right along.

And Vader... his position is rather complex... since he was, at once, Supreme Commander, a Warlord, and a Sith... I suspect you're right, though, about Vader's power being based on his closeness to the Emperor... but also, he was apparently subordinate to Tarkin - or certainly, not his superior...

Lord Vader was apparently simply a special executor before the Battle of Yavin, aboard the Death Star to ?speak for The Emperor,? as the Cloaked Figure put it in TIE Fighter. After the Battle of Yavin, when most of Lord Vader?s most vehement critics and powerful opponents?including Rear Admiral Motti?were probably killed (Admiral Motti was shielded from Lord Vader?s wrath solely by the Grand Moff Tarkin?s good graces, and Governor Tarkin was killed). Another opponent, High General The Hon. Ulric Tagge, survived, but was shortly thereafter blackmailed into submitting to Lord Vader.

Even as late as the authorisation of the Executor project, members of the Admiralty were opposed to Lord Vader?s high-handed tactics?an indicator as to the freshness of his creation as Supreme Commander. His absolute status in the Armed Services, and thence, all the Empire, was only established shortly after the Battle of Yavin.

Is there a sharp distinction between Governors and Moffs, ie between the administration of planets and systems and that of sectors and oversectors?

Yes, there is a somewhat clear distinction between the governors, who are not ipso facto servicemen, and the magistrates, who are all military or naval personnel. For example, Tatooine was administrated by The Hon. Tour Aryon, who was a civilian with no military or naval experience at all. Although Tatooine was the seat of the system?s government, she was apparently represented on Tatooine itself by a prefect, Eugene Talmont.

Governors are simply agents empowered to oversee the affairs of planetary systems, whilst magistrates are appointed as the political and military & naval executors of massive sectors. A magistrate can simultaneously function as a governor?as the Grand Moff Tarkin doubled as governor of Eriadu.

It may be advantageous to imagine a formal hierarchy

 

Someone rank these irregular titles from highest to lowest....
Grand Moff, Grand Admiral, Grand Vizier, Director of Imperial Intelligence, Emperor's hand, Procurator of Imperial Justice, High Admiral, Director of Imperial Intelligence.

Whats the difference between Hethrir's and Armand/Ysanne Isards jobs? Are the Isards like the FBI direc and hehlike the aG?

 

Your people's intelligence frightens me.

P.S. Were either of my posts even close to being correct?

 

Now, that?s a peculiar question.

Grand moff is a rank and title awarded to a magistrate appointed by HIM The Emperor to administrate an oversector, consisting of multiple sectors, usually temporarily assembled to ?deal with crises.? They are answerable under ordinary circumstances only to HIM The Emperor or a nominated executor thereof.

Grand admiral is, as previously described, a rate & rating of infinite seniority. The grand admirals, of whom there were always twelve, were the seniormost officers of the Armed Services, all unparalleled genii of military & naval tactics or strategy (not necessarily both at the same time). They were also appointed directly by HIM The Emperor, and were theoretically subordinate only to him.

Now, since both these ranks and titles were appointed by Imperial Decree, and were theoretically answerable only to him, it raises the question, who is superior to whom, between grand moff and grand admiral? And what of the theoretical rank of supreme moff?

Grand moffs and grand admirals, being both commissioners of the Crown, would probably be on equal ground in most circumstances. In strictly political matters, grand admirals would obviously be subordinate to grand moffs; likewise, in strictly military or naval matters, grand moffs would have to defer to grand admirals. In matters that combined both, it would depend on which was acting on direct imperial instructions. If both were, the priority of the instructions would determine seniority, no doubt.

Grand vizier is a unique title, of which there is only one known bearer, HE Sate Pestage. HE The Grand Vizier seems to be HIM The Emperor?s chief deputy and acts as regent in the latter?s seclusion. He is, it seems, the absolute highest authority in the Empire, short of the Supreme Dark Monarch himself (in preliminary scripts to The Empire Strikes Back, a version of HE The Grand Vizier threatens Lord Vader with impunity).

Procurator of Justice, it seems, is the title of the chief executioner of the Empire. Lord Hethrir was the Procurator of Justice, and his identity was a carefully guarded secret throughout the Empire; no pictures of his face were ever circulated, nor was his name ever spoken. He was, in effect, a man whose existence was forbidden to discuss, either to confirm or deny.

Director of Imperial Intelligence is the title of the chief administrative officer of Imperial Intelligence. The relationship of this post to the Ubiqtorate is as yet undetermined; it is likely that the director of Intelligence doubles as the leader of the Ubiqtorate. Apparently, even during the directorates of the Isards, there was a nominated executor (to speak for The Emperor), the former Prophet of the Dark Side and Emperor?s Hand, Blackhole.

The director of Intelligence possesses considerable, almost unlimited authority within the Empire, as the chief of a major military organ. Given that it is a commissioner of the Crown (i.e., the director of Intelligence is appointed personally by HIM The Emperor), it seems that the director of Intelligence ranks at about the level of grand moffs. Mme Director Isard appears to have assumed the position of Supreme Commander somewhere in the aftermath of the Battle of Endor.

High admiral is the rate & rating immediately superior to that of admiral of the fleet (fleet admiral). High admirals are the commanders of sector groups (more probably, as most moffs prefer to be the commanders-in-chief of their sector groups, a high admiral would probably be a chief of general staff). It is, in actual fact, a rate & rating inferior to moff, itself inferior to grand moff.

Emperor?s Hand is not a rank, but a title and position. Depending on the circumstances, an Emperor?s Hand may be able to command considerable resources. However, the Emperor?s Hands are unofficial, and are personal agents of HIM The Emperor, with no de jure status. For this reason, most of the Emperor?s Hands were left without any place in the reorganised Empire post-Endor. Their status in the Empire was dependent solely

 

On Power Differential Between Grand Moffs and Grand Admirals (IMO, on of the most interesting aspects which can be discussed): Tears of Palpatine said...
"A grand admiral is appointed by HIM The Emperor as his supreme executor in military and naval affairs, and is possessed of infinite seniority, and is able to command whatever resources he or she deems necessary for the achievement of his or her objective. I.e., if a grand admiral finds it germane to his or her purposes to relieve a grand moff of his or her gubernatorial responsibilities, the grand admiral may do so, the fact that grand moffs are created by HIM The Emperor notwithstanding."

That can also exactly be used to describe the Grand Moff within his Priority Sector. That is, a Grand Moff is also appointed by Cos as his supreme executer in all affairs (including military and naval affairs) and is possessed of infinite superiority, and is able to command whatever resources he or she deems necessary for the achievement of his or her objective. I.e., if a Grand Moff finds it germane to his or her purposes to relieve a grand admiral of his or her military responsibilities, the Grand Moff may do so, the fact that grand admirals are created by HIM The Emperor notwithstanding. Now, on a final technical note, the infinite authority of a Grand Moff is documented, whereas your opinion of the grand admiral authority is less so. We know that Grand Moffs are supreme from the following Imperial Sourcebook information:
"Grand Moffs are therefore given complete freedom to act as they see fit..."

It is most interesting to explore what would happen under several situations (all without expressed direct consent from the Emperor):

• Case 1: A Grand Moff Orders A Grand Admiral To Do Something the Grand Admiral Dislikes
• Case 2: The Emperor Gives Each Grand Admiral And Grand Moff Contradictory Orders


And finally, the Emperor favored all of his Grand Moffs just about more than anyone else.

On the Imperial Military High Command: Of course there exists an Imperial Military High Command. Like the Grand Moffs and Grand Admirals, the Imperial Military High Command is given its authority directly from Palpatine. Therefore, it can also mobilize forces within the confines of the galaxy on its own Emperor-granted accord with few limitations. It is generally because of Imperial Military High Command that the other special positions like Grand Moff and Grand Admiral were created. Imperial Military High Command is a bloated, excessive waste of Imperial resources. There are far more Imperial Military corps HQ's than there are Imperial Military corps. This means that there is a vast abundance of more than pleasant jobs for less than brilliant officers. Realizing that in a crises, units may have to be sent from many parts of a sector, the Empire wanted HQ's in place which could take command of all the parts. This means that for a vast majority of the time, you have bored, inexperienced commanders competing for one another for the right to command forces in a given region. Imperial Military High Command constantly fights the politics inherent in such a command structure. Whereas, with Grand Moffs and Grand Admirals - there is a single voice of authority which must be heeded or death will occur.

On the Power of the Senate: First, the Senate held tremendous weight in the Empire, even after its dissolution. Senator Simon Greyshade, the executer of the Wheel was a powerful Senator and commanded enough authority in the galaxy to keep the Empire out of the Wheel. I encourage eneryone here to read "The Wheel" arc in Marvel (#18-23), as it has some interesting power-struggles. We have this from Senator Greyshade himself:
Greyshade: And Senator Greyshade to you [speaking to Imperial Commander Strom, the Empire's Chief Representative in the Sector], Commander. The Emperor may have dissolved that august office, but I still like the title..

 

Grand moffs and grand admirals, being both commissioners of the Crown, would probably be on equal ground in most circumstances. In strictly political matters, grand admirals would obviously be subordinate to grand moffs; likewise, in strictly military or naval matters, grand moffs would have to defer to grand admirals. In matters that combined both, it would depend on which was acting on direct imperial instructions. If both were, the priority of the instructions would determine seniority, no doubt.

Grand Moff must be a military command or rank or convey or be able to enforce military doctrine as well as political, else why would Tarkin be in command of the Death Star? Moffs and Grand Moffs were territorial and regional sector governors, as well as de facto military commanders, weren't they? It seems to me that a Grand Moff, while the Governor of a complete sector, would have significant military as well as political clout.