You think a creature as mighty as the Admiral would be bound by the meager limitation of form? I think it's possible - likely, in fact - it could have no form at all. A creature of pure energy, not entirely unlike myself, that chooses to possess it's craft, or maybe even the sentience of the craft itself.

Yes, it had to be made, but it's not difficult to conceive the Admiral's maker being powerful enough to construct a ship with a relatively advanced sentience. To make something this mighty would require a being or species even mightier.