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Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy | |
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ශ්රී ලංකා නාවික හමුදාපති | |
Sri Lanka Navy | |
Abbreviation | CofN |
Member of | National Security Council |
Reports to | Ministry of Defence Chief of the Defence Staff |
Seat | Naval Headquarters, SLNS Parakrama, Flagstaff street, Colombo 1 |
Appointer | The President |
Term length | Not fixed |
Constituting instrument | Navy Act (Chapter 358) |
Formation | 1 February 1938 as Commander of the Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force |
First holder | Captain W. G. Beauchamp (as Commander CNVF) |
Deputy | Chief of Staff of the Navy |
Sri Lanka Navy |
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Components |
History |
Ships |
Leadership and ranks |
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.
By convention, serving Navy commanders have a rank of vice admiral, and will be promoted to the rank of admiral on retirement or if appointed as Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
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.
The official residences of the Commander of the Navy is the Navy House in Colombo, formerly the Navy House in Trincomalee.
No. | Portrait | Rank | Name | Appointment | Left Office | Decorations |
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Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force (1938–1950) | ||||||
1 | Captain | W. G. Beauchamp | 1 February 1938 | 31 March 1946 | CBE, VRD | |
2 | Rear Admiral | Royce de Mel | 1946 | 1950 | OBE | |
Royal Ceylon Navy (1950–1972) | ||||||
1 | Captain | W. E. Banks | 9 December 1950 | 25 November 1951 | CBE, DSC | |
2 | Captain | J. R. S. Brown | 26 November 1951 | 14 June 1953 | ||
3 | Captain | P. M. B. Chavasse | 15 June 1953 | 7 November 1955 | DSC | |
4 | Rear Admiral | Royce de Mel | 15 August 1955 | 15 November 1960 | OBE, ADC | |
5 | Rear Admiral | Rajan Kadiragamar | 16 November 1960 | 1 July 1970 | MVO, ADC | |
6 | Rear Admiral | D. V. Hunter | 2 July 1970 | 22 May 1972 | ||
Sri Lanka Navy (1972-present) | ||||||
6 | Rear Admiral | D. V. Hunter | 22 May 1972 | 31 March 1973 | ||
7 | Admiral | Deshamanya Basil Gunasekara | 1 April 1973 | 31 May 1979 | ||
8 | Admiral | Henry Perera | 1 June 1979 | 31 May 1983 | VSV | |
9 | Vice Admiral | Asoka de Silva | 1 June 1983 | 31 October 1986 | VSV | |
10 | Admiral | H. A. Silva | 1 November 1986 | 31 October 1991 | VSV | |
11 | Admiral | Clancy Fernando † | 1 November 1991 | 16 November 1992 | VSV, USP | |
12 | Admiral | D. A. M. R. Samarasekara | 16 November 1992 | 27 November 1997 | VSV, USP | |
13 | Admiral | H. C. A. C. Thisera | 28 January 1997 | 31 December 2000 | VSV, USP | |
14 | Admiral | Daya Sandagiri | 1 January 2001 | 31 August 2005 | VSV, USP | |
15 | Admiral of the Fleet | Wasantha Karannagoda | 1 September 2005 | 15 July 2009 | RSP, VSV, USP | |
16 | Admiral | Thisara Samarasinghe | 15 July 2009 | 15 January 2011 | RSP, VSV, USP | |
17 | Admiral | D. W. A. S. Dissanayake | 15 January 2011 | 27 September 2012 | WV, RSP & Bar, VSV, USP | |
18 | Admiral | Jayanath Colombage | 27 September 2012 | 30 June 2014 | RSP, VSV, USP | |
19 | Admiral | Jayantha Perera | 1 July 2014 | 10 July 2015 | RWP, VSV, USP | |
20 | Admiral | Ravindra Wijegunaratne | 11 July 2015 | 21 August 2017 | WV, RWP & Bar, RSP, VSV, USP | |
21 | Admiral | Travis Sinniah | 22 August 2017 | 26 October 2017 | WWV, RWP, RSP (x3), USP | |
22 | Admiral | Sirimevan Ranasinghe | 26 October 2017 | 31 December 2018 | WWV, RWP, USP | |
23 | Admiral | Piyal De Silva | 1 January 2019 | 14 July 2020 | WWV & Bar, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP | |
24 | Admiral | Nishantha Ulugetenne | 15 July 2020 | 18 Dec 2022 | RSP & Bar, VSV, USP | |
25 | Vice Admiral | Priyantha Perera | 19 Dec 2022 | Present | RSP **, USP, ndu, psc |
After the outbreak of the Second World War, in the British Crown Colony of Ceylon, the government of Sir Don Baron Jayatilaka assured the British King and his government of its continued support.
Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton, was a Royal Navy officer. He was in command of the submarine HMS E13 when, under attack from German vessels, it ran aground off the Danish coast during the First World War. Despite this incident, he rose to senior command in the Second World War and retired in 1947. His final appointment had been as Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth.
The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) is the naval arm of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is classed as the country's most vital defence force due to its island geography. It is responsible for the maritime defence of the Sri Lankan nation and its interests. The role of the Sri Lanka Navy is to conduct operations at sea for the defence of the nation and its interests and conduct prompt and sustainable combat operations at sea in accordance with the national policies.
The following tables present the ranks and insignia of the Sri Lanka Navy. These ranks are similar to Royal Naval officer ranks and the ratings ranks. Sri Lanka does have an Admiral rank, but it is usually only awarded to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) or as an honorary rank; Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda was the only Sri Lankan naval officer to hold a full admiral rank while in active service.
Admiral Wannakuwatta Waduge Erwin Clancy Fernando VSV, USP, MNI was a senior Sri Lanka Navy officer. He served as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy from 1 November 1991 to 16 November 1992, when he was assassinated by the LTTE he was the most senior officer in the Sri Lankan armed forces to be killed in the line of duty.
Rear Admiral Rajanathan Kadiragamar, MVO was a Ceylonese flag officer. He was the second Ceylonese Captain of the Royal Ceylon Navy from 1960 to 1970 and as such the longest serving Commander of the Navy.
Vice Admiral A. H. Asoka de Silva, VSV was the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy from 1983 to 1986. He was the first Sri Lankan Ambassador to Cuba.
Admiral Deshamanya D. Basil Gunasekara was the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy from 1973 to 1979.
Admiral Thisara Sugeeshwara Gunasekara Samarasinghe RSP, VSV, USP, ndc, psc, DISS, MNI, SLN was the Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy from 15 July 2008 to 15 January 2011. He had a distinguished 36-year career in the Sri Lankan Navy. His career included a wide range of key appointments at sea and ashore, including training in the United Kingdom, India and the United States.
Admiral Ravindra Chandrasiri Wijegunaratne, WV, RWP and Bar, RSP, VSV, USP, NI(M), ndc, psn, is a retired Sri Lankan admiral, and former Chief of Defence Staff of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. He has also served as the Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy, Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Navy, the Director General of the Sri Lanka Coast Guard and held, at various times, four of the seven Naval Commands of the SLN. Wijegunaratne has also served as Director Naval Operations, and is a recipient of the Weerodara Vibhushanaya.
Navy House was the official residence of the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy, located in SLN Dockyard, Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. It was formerly the official residence of the naval officer commanding, HM Dockyard, Trincomalee and later the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station of the Royal Navy.
Admiral Jayanath Colombage, RSP, VSV, USP, FNI is a Sri Lankan flag officer and diplomat. He was the Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs until 2022, prior to which he served as Additional Secretary to the President for foreign relations. A career naval officer, he had served as the Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy, the professional head of the navy from September 2012 to June 2014.
Daya W. K. Sandagiri was the 14th Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy. Admiral Sandagiri was born in Veyangoda and had his education at St. Mary's Maha Vidyalaya, Veyangoda and Kegalu Vidyalaya, Kegalle. He enlisted in the then Royal Ceylon Navy on 14 November 1966 and was in the first batch of naval cadets to join the Naval and Maritime Academy at Trincomalee on 1 July 1969. He was commissioned into the Executive Branch of the navy as a sub-lieutenant on 1 July 1972.
Admiral (retired) Jayantha Perera RWP, VSV, USP, ndu, psc was the 19th Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy.
Admiral D. A. Mohan R. Samarasekara, VSV, USP, ndc, psc, SLN was the 13th Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy.
Vice Admiral Hikkaduwage Ananda Silva, VSV was a Sri Lankan senior naval officer who was the 11th Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy.
Admiral Alfred William Henry Perera, VSV, ndc, psc, SLN (1930–2009) was the Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy from 1979 to 1983. He also served as the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Kenya.
Rear Admiral Gerard Royce Maxwell De Mel, OBE was a Ceylonese admiral. He was the Captain of the Royal Ceylon Navy from 1955 to 1961, the first Ceylonese to hold the post. He was accused and convicted in the 1962 Ceylonese coup d'état attempt.
Rear admiral Conan Anthony Mohan Jayamaha, RWP, VSV, USP, psc, SLN was a Sri Lankan Admiral. He was Commander, Northern Naval Area of the Sri Lanka Navy when he was killed from wounds sustained in a land mine explosion that killed 7 other senior military officers including Lieutenant General Denzil Kobbekaduwa in island of Kayts while making preparations for Operation Final Countdown the proposed invasion of the Jaffna Peninsula.
The Ceylon Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve was the volunteer naval reserve of the British Crown colony of Ceylon from 1938 to 1950. Established as the Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force (CNVF) on 1 January 1938 under the Naval Volunteer Ordinance, No, l of 1937. It was made up of volunteers mainly from the mercantile sector of Colombo consisting of 12 officers and 18 sailors, under the command of the newly commissioned Commander W. G. Beauchamp. The first headquarters of the force was set up on 11 January 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II, at Kochchikade.