The Indian Navy (IN) is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates significantly in the Persian Gulf Region, the Horn of Africa, the Strait of Malacca, and routinely conducts anti-piracy operations and partners with other navies in the region. It also conducts routine two to three month-long deployments in the South and East China seas as well as the western Mediterranean sea simultaneously.
The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the Armed Forces of British India.
Maritime powers in the Indian subcontinent have possessed navies for many centuries. Indian dynasties such as the Cholas used naval power to extend their influence overseas, particularly to Southeast Asia. The Marakkar Navy under Zamorins during 15th century and the Maratha Navy of the 17th and 18th centuries fought with rival Indian powers and European trading companies. The East India Company organised its own navy, which came to be known as the Bombay Marine. With the establishment of the British Raj after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the small navy was transformed into "His Majesty's Indian Navy", then "Her Majesty's Indian Marine", and finally the "Royal Indian Marine".
The Indian Defence services have established numerous academies and staff colleges across India for the purpose of training professional soldiers in military sciences, warfare command and strategy, and associated technologies.
Admiral Sardarilal Mathradas 'Charles' Nanda, PVSM, AVSM was an Indian Navy admiral who served as the 7th Chief of the Naval Staff from 1 March 1970 until 28 February 1973. He led the Indian Navy during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and successfully executed a naval blockade of both West and East Pakistan, helping India achieve an overwhelming victory during the war. For the important role he played in the war, the Government of India awarded him with the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award. He is one of the most notable commanders in the history of the Indian Navy.
Admiral Ram Dass Katari was an Indian Navy Admiral who served as the 3rd Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) from 22 April 1958 to 4 June 1962. He was the first Indian to hold the office and succeeded the last British officer to the post, Vice Admiral Sir Stephen Hope Carlill.
INS Venduruthy is an Indian Navy base located on Willingdon Island in Kochi, Kerala. It serves as the Headquarters of the Southern Naval Command. It is the largest training establishment of the Indian Navy. INS Garuda is a naval air station located adjacent to INS Venduruthy. Commodore Deepak Kumar is the Commanding officer of this base. It provides administrative facilities to all training establishments inside the Southern naval command. Pincode of INS Vendurathy is 682004.
The PNS Karsaz is the naval station and the largest technical training facility located in the urban neighborhood of Karsaz in Karachi that provides technical education on the subjects of the mechanics and the electronics for the Navy's enlisted personnel upon their passing out from the PNS Himalaya— the Navy's only basic training boot camp in Manora Island in Karachi coast, Sindh in Pakistan.
The Eastern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The command is responsible for the all naval forces in the Bay of Bengal and parts of the Indian Ocean and the naval establishments on the east coast of India.
Admiral Ronald Lynsdale 'Ronnie' Pereira, PVSM, AVSM was a flag officer in the Indian Navy. He served as the ninth Chief of Naval Staff from 1979 to 1982. He is considered to be one of the architects of the modern Indian Navy.
Admiral Adhar Kumar Chatterji was an Admiral in the Indian Navy. He served as the 6th Chief of the Naval Staff, from 4 March 1966, until 28 February 1970. He was the first Indian officer of the navy to hold the rank of full Admiral. He is credited with the transformation of the Indian Navy. He made sweeping changes and restructured the navy, creating the Western and Eastern Naval Commands and the Western Fleet. Under him, the Indian Navy also entered the submarine age, with the commissioning of INS Kalvari (S23) in 1967.
Admiral Jal Cursetji, PVSM was a former Flag Officer in the Indian Navy. He served as the ninth Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) from 1 March 1976 until 28 February 1979. He was the first hydrographer to serve as the CNS.
Vice Admiral Nilakanta Krishnan, PVSM, DSC, was a former flag officer in the Indian Navy. He was the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War.
INS Satavahana is the premier Submarine Training Base of the Indian Navy and is located at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Training is carried out by the Submarine School (SMS) and the Escape Training School (ETS) and the School of Advanced Undersea Warfare (SAUW).
INS Dwarka is a Forward Operating Base (FOB) of the Indian Navy and is located at Okha, Gujarat.
Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, AVSM, VSM is a serving Flag officer in the Indian Navy. He currently serves as the Controller of Personnel Services (CPS). He earlier served as the Chief of Staff of the Western Naval Command, Flag Officer Defence Advisory Group (FODAG), Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF) and Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST). He was the second Commanding Officer of the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.
Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF) is the title of the Indian Navy Officer who commands the Eastern Fleet, headquartered in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The FOCEF is a Two Star Officer holding the rank of Rear Admiral. The Current FOCEF is Rear Admiral Gurcharan Singh, who assumed office on 30 November 2022.
Rear Admiral Pritam Singh 'Peter' Mahindroo, PVSM (1917-1999) was a Flag Officer in the Indian Navy. He was the first Sikh Admiral in the Indian Navy. He was the commissioning Commanding Officer of the Indian Navy's first aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. He later served as the Chief of Materiel and as the Director General Naval Dockyard Expansion Scheme before retiring in 1972.
Rear Admiral Sadashiv Ganesh Karmarkar, MBE was a flag officer in the Indian Navy. He was the first Indian officer to command a ship of the Royal Indian Navy. During World War II, he commanded the auxiliary patrol vessel HMIS Ratnagiri, for which he was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). He later became the first Indian to command British officers, when he commanded the sloop HMIS Kistna. He last served as the Flag Officer Bombay, from 1960 to 1964, before retiring.
INS Valsura is a "stone frigate" of the Indian Navy in Jamnagar, Gujarat. A premier technological training institution, it houses the Electrical school of the Indian Navy.
