Commander of the Navy (Sri Lanka)

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Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy
ශ්‍රී ලංකා නාවික හමුදාපති
Naval Ensign of Sri Lanka.svg
since 31 December 2024
Naval Ensign of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka Navy
AbbreviationCofN
Member of National Security Council
Reports to Minister of Defence
Seat Naval Headquarters
AppointerThe President
Term length Not fixed
Constituting instrument Navy Act (Chapter 358)
Formation1 February 1938;87 years ago (1938-02-01)
as Commander of the Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force
First holder Captain W. G. Beauchamp
(as Commander CNVF)
Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy

The Commander of the Navy is the professional head of the Sri Lanka Navy. The current Commander of the Navy is Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera. It is a position equivalent to that of First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy or Chief of Naval Operations in the United States Navy.

Contents

By convention, serving Navy commanders have a rank of vice admiral, and will be promoted to the rank of admiral on retirement.

History

The post of Captain of the Navy was created through the Navy Act of 9 December 1950, which also established the Royal Ceylon Navy. [1]

In 1972, the "Dominion of Ceylon" became the "Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka" and the Royal Ceylon Navy was renamed the Sri Lanka Navy. The title "Captain of the Navy" was changed to "Commander of the Navy" through the Navy (Amendment) Law, No. 33 of 1976 [2] in keeping with the terminology adopted by the other two services.

Official Residence

The official residences of the Commander of the Navy is the Navy House in Colombo, formerly the Navy House in Trincomalee.

List of Commanders (including Commanders of the Royal Ceylon Navy)

No.PortraitRankNameAppointmentLeft OfficeDecorations
Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force (1938–1950)
1 Captain W. G. Beauchamp 1 February 193831 March 1946 CBE, VRD
2 Rear Admiral Royce de Mel 19461950 OBE
Royal Ceylon Navy (1950–1972)
1 Captain W. E. Banks 9 December 195025 November 1951 CBE, DSC
2 Captain J. R. S. Brown 26 November 195114 June 1953
3 Captain P. M. B. Chavasse 15 June 19537 November 1955 DSC
4 Rear Admiral Royce de Mel 15 August 195515 November 1960 OBE, ADC
5 Rear Admiral Rajan Kadiragamar 16 November 19601 July 1970 MVO, ADC
6 Rear Admiral D. V. Hunter 2 July 197022 May 1972
Sri Lanka Navy (1972–present)
6 Rear Admiral D. V. Hunter22 May 197231 March 1973
7 Admiral Deshamanya Basil Gunasekara 1 April 197331 May 1979
8 Admiral Henry Perera 1 June 197931 May 1983 VSV
9 Vice Admiral Asoka de Silva 1 June 198331 October 1986 VSV
10 Admiral H. A. Silva 1 November 198631 October 1991 VSV
11 Admiral Clancy Fernando   † 1 November 199116 November 1992 VSV, USP
12 Admiral D. A. M. R. Samarasekara 16 November 199227 November 1997 VSV, USP
13 Admiral H. C. A. C. Thisera 28 January 199731 December 2000 VSV, USP
14 Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy, Vice Adm. D.W.K. Sandagiri (cropped).jpg Admiral Daya Sandagiri 1 January 200131 August 2005 VSV, USP
15 Wasantha Karannagoda.jpg Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda 1 September 200515 July 2009 RSP, VSV, USP
16 Thisara Samarasinghe.png Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe 15 July 200915 January 2011 RSP, VSV, USP
17 Admiral D. W. A. S. Dissanayake 15 January 201127 September 2012 WV, RSP & Bar, VSV, USP
18 Jayanath Colombage in FISIP UI, 24 October 2024.jpg Admiral Jayanath Colombage 27 September 201230 June 2014 RSP, VSV, USP
19 Admiral Jayantha Perera 1 July 201410 July 2015 RWP, VSV, USP
20 Ravindra C. Wijegunaratne.jpg Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne 11 July 201521 August 2017 WV, RWP & Bar, RSP, VSV, USP
21 Travis Sinniah, Naval War College Lecture.jpg Admiral Travis Sinniah 22 August 201726 October 2017 WWV, RWP, RSP (x3), USP
22 SENIOR OFFICER AND COMMANDING OFFICER OF 1 TS CALLING ON VICE ADMIRAL SS RANASINGHE, COMMANDER OF SRILANKA NAVY - 2 (cropped).jpg Admiral Sirimevan Ranasinghe 26 October 201731 December 2018 WWV, RWP, USP
23 Piyal De Silva 180508-N-MD713-0113 (cropped).jpg Admiral Piyal De Silva 1 January 201914 July 2020 WWV & Bar, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP
24 Nishantha Ulugetenne in September 2021 (cropped).jpg Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne 15 July 202018 Dec 2022 RSP & Bar, VSV, USP
25 Admiral Priyantha Perera 19 Dec 202231 December 2024 RSP **, USP, ndu, psc
26 Vice Admiral Kanchana Banagoda 31 December 2024Present RSP, USP, ndc, psc

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Navy Act". Srilankalaw.lk. Blackhall Publishing. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  2. ↑ "Navy (Amendment) Law (No. 33 of 1976) - Sect 3". ComonLII.com. Commonwealth Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
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