Vice Admiral Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman

Vice Admiral B S Soman
CNS, 04 Jun 1962 - 03 Mar 1966

Vice Admiral Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman assumed charge of the Indian Navy, as the 4th Chief of Naval Staff, on 04 June 1962. Born in March 1913, at Gwalior, he was selected for the Royal Indian Marine in 1931. After his initial training in the United Kingdom, he returned to India as a Sub Lieutenant in August 1934. During World War II, he served as First Lieutenant and for a time, as the Commanding Officer of HMIS Cornwallis in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf in 1939 and 1940 respectively. He took part in capturing the Italian Submarine Gallilio off Aden, Yemen.

Later he commissioned HMIS Khyber, a fleet mine-sweeper of the Royal Indian Navy. He was the Senior Instructor in combined operations training establishments at Mandapam, Tamil Nadu and Hamla near Bombay. He was one of the first Indian Officers to be promoted to the rank of Acting Captain in June 1947. During the months following Partition in 1947, he was the first Indian to be appointed to the key post of Chief of Personnel at Naval HQ. In October 1949, he went to sea in command of INS Jumna. He carried a number of goodwill visits to some of our neighbouring countries in the Persian Gulf, Malaya and East Africa.

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Admiral Adhar Kumar Chatterji

Admiral A K Chatterji
CNS, 03 Mar 1966 - 28 Feb 1970

Admiral Adhar Kumar Chatterji assumed charge of the Indian Navy, as the 5th Chief of Naval Staff, on 03 March 1966. Born in 1914, he entered the Royal Indian Navy in 1933 as one of the first cadet-entry officers. He qualified as an anti-submarine specialist in the United Kingdom in 1940, and subsequently saw active service afloat in the Second World War in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean areas in various ships of the Royal and Royal Indian Navies.

In August 1947, Admiral Chatterji completed his staff course in the United Kingdom and on his return to India, was appointed Director of Naval Plans in Naval HQ. In June 1950, he assumed command of the flagship of the Indian fleet, INS Delhi (the erstwhile HMS Achilles of the Battle of River Plate Fame), in the rank of Captain. He was the first Indian officer to command the cruiser, in which he took part in a number of combined exercises and paid good-will visits to several countries in the Far East and the Mediterranean.

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Admiral Sardari Mathradas Nanda

Admiral S M Nanda, PVSM, AVSM
CNS, 28 Feb 1970 - 28 Feb 1973

Admiral Sardari Mathradas Nanda assumed charge of the Indian Navy, as the 6th Chief of Naval Staff, on 28 February 1970. Born in 1915, he joined the Royal Indian Naval Volunteer Reserve in October 1941. Prior to his joining the RINVR, he had served with Port Trust in Karachi.

Since Independence in 1947, Admiral Nanda held a number of important appointments both ashore and afloat that gave him varied experience. In 1948, he joined the Navy's first cruiser INS Delhi in the United Kingdom as her First Lieutenant. On his return to India, he served as the Director of Personnel Services at Naval HQ from 1949-51. He later commanded the destroyer, INS Ranjit, as well as a Frigate Squadron. Posted back to Naval HQ, he became the Chief of Personnel and was promoted to the rank of Commodore.

In 1957, Admiral Nanda commissioned the cruiser INS Mysore in the United Kingdom. Subsequently, he was appointed Director General, Naval Dockyard Expansion Scheme, at Bombay. He was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) in 1961. There after, he underwent a course at the Imperial Defence College in London, returning to Naval HQ to assume the appointment of Chief of Material.

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