Admiral Ronald Lynsdale Pereira

Admiral R L Pereira, PVSM, AVSM
CNS, 28 Feb 1979 - 28 Feb 1982

Admiral Ronald Lynsdale Pereira assumed charge of the Indian Navy, as the 9th Chief of Naval Staff, on 28 February 1979. Born on 25 May 1923, he was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 25 May 1943. During World War II, he saw active service aboard gunboats in Burma and Malaysia between 1943-45 and thereafter, continued at sea with an amphibious task group based in Iraq, till 1946.

After Independence in 1947, Admiral Pereira served for several years as a Gunnery Specialist, both afloat and ashore, before taking over as Officer-in-Charge of the Gunnery School, Cochin in 1956. A graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, he has served as Deputy Commandant of the National Defence Academy in Pune and as the Director of Combat Policy & Tactics at Naval HQ. He commanded the Indian Navy's Flag Ship, INS Delhi and commanded an anti-submarine warfare frigate, INS Khutar. He is considered as one the architects of the modern Indian Navy.

Admiral Pereira held the appointments of Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF), Flag Officer Commanding of the Southern Naval Command and the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command. In 1971 he was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) and in 1977 was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM). He is a keen sportsman having represented the Indian Navy in Hockey in 1946 and in Golf in the 1960s.