Flag Officer Commanding
Eastern Fleet
(FOCEF)
Flag of the FOCEF (Rear Admiral's flag)
Incumbent
Rear Admiral Rajesh Dhankhar, NM
since 10 November 2023
Indian Navy
AbbreviationFOCEF
Reports toFlag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command
SeatVisakhapatnam
First holderRear Admiral S H Sarma, PVSM

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 Rajesh Dhankhar, who assumed office on 10 November 2023.

History

After the independence and the partition of India on 15 August 1947, the ships and personnel of the Royal Indian Navy were divided between the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The division of the ships was on the basis of two-thirds of the fleet to India, one third to Pakistan.[1]

The operational ships of the remaining Royal Indian Navy, minus Pakistan, were initially placed under the command of the Commodore Commanding Indian Naval Squadron (COMINS), later the Rear-Admiral Commanding Indian Naval Squadron (RACINS), whose title was then changed to Flag Officer (Flotilla) Indian Fleet (FOFIF). These appointments were initially held by British officers: Commodore H.N.S. Brown, who was the Commanding Officer of INS Delhi (C74) and serving as COMINS, seemingly at the same time, and later, Commodore (later Rear Admiral) Geoffrey Barnard who became COMINS and later Rear-Admiral Commanding, INS.[2] The Flotilla was later upgraded to the Indian Fleet under a Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet (FOCIF).[3]

On the proclamation of a Republic in 1950, the 'Royal' title was dropped and the Navy became simply the Indian Navy. Barnard was succeeded by Rear Admiral N.V. ("Uncle Richard") Dickinson, Rear Admiral F.A. Ballance, and then the final British officer Rear Admiral St John Tyrwhitt as FOCIF.[2] In 1956, Rear Admiral Ram Dass Katari became the first Indian flag officer, and was appointed the first Indian FOCIF on 2 October, when he took over from Rear Admiral Tyrwhitt.[4][5] (title alternately given as Flag Officer (Flotilla)).[6] In 1957, INS Mysore (C60) was commissioned, and the flag of Rear Admiral Katari was transferred, INS Mysore thus becoming the flagship of the Indian Fleet.[7]

On 1 March 1968, the Eastern Naval Command was established and the Indian Fleet was renamed as the Western Fleet.[8][9] In September 1971, Rear Admiral S H Sarma was summoned by the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral S M Nanda who told him that he was to move to Visakhapatnam and take up command of the yet-to-be-formed Eastern Fleet.[10] The two-fleet concept of the Navy came into force with the constitution of the Eastern Fleet on 1 November 1971. Rear Admiral Sarma took over as the founding Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF).[11] In mid 1971, The aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, along with the frigates INS Brahmaputra and INS Beas were moved from the Western Fleet to the Eastern Naval Command.[12] Thus, INS Vikrant became the flagship of the Eastern Fleet.

Organisation

The FOCWF is assisted by the fleet staff, headed by the Fleet Operations Officer (FOO), a one-star appointment. The Fleet Communications & Electronic Warfare Officer (FCO), Fleet Gunnery Officer (FGO), Fleet Navigation Officer (FNO), Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Officer (FASWO), Fleet Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Damage Control Officer (FNBCDO), Fleet Engineering Officer (FEO) and Fleet Electrical Officer (FLO) make up the rest of the fleet staff.[13]

List of commanders

S.No. Name Assumed office Left office Notes
1 Rear Admiral S H Sarma PVSM 1 November 1971 1 March 1973 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.[14]
2 Rear Admiral Ronald Lynsdale Pereira AVSM 2 March 1973 10 January 1975 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[15]
3 Rear Admiral R K S Ghandhi VrC 28 January 1975 18 October 1975 Also commanded the Western Fleet. Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.[16]
4 Rear Admiral V. E. C. Barboza AVSM & bar 29 October 1975 14 April 1976 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.[17][18]
5 Rear Admiral D. S. Paintal AVSM 16 April 1976 9 June 1977 [19]
6 Rear Admiral Mihir K. Roy AVSM, VSM 10 June 1977 27 February 1978 Director of Naval Intelligence during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.[20]
7 Rear Admiral Oscar Stanley Dawson AVSM 28 February 1978 20 March 1979 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[21]
8 Rear Admiral S. L. Sethi AVSM, NM 21 March 1979 4 January 1980 Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.[22]
9 Rear Admiral K. K. Nayyar AVSM 5 January 1980 17 July 1981 Later commanded the Western Fleet and served as Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.[23]
10 Rear Admiral Sukmal Jain AVSM, NM 18 July 1981 14 October 1982 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.[24]
11 Rear Admiral I. J. S. Khurana 15 October 1983 28 June 1983 Later Director General of the Indian Coast Guard.[25]
12 Rear Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas AVSM, VrC, VSM 29 June 1983 27 March 1985 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[26]
13 Rear Admiral S. P. Govil AVSM 28 March 1985 7 March 1986 Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.[27]
14 Rear Admiral H. Johnson AVSM 8 March 1986 8 July 1987 Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.[28][29]
15 Rear Admiral S. W. Lakhkar AVSM, NM 9 July 1987 22 August 1988 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.[30]
16 Rear Admiral B. Guha AVSM 23 August 1988 28 January 1990 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.[31]
17 Rear Admiral P. S. Das UYSM, AVSM 29 January 1990 26 October 1991 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.[32]
18 Rear Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat AVSM 27 October 1991 2 October 1992 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[33]
19 Rear Admiral P. J. Jacob AVSM, VSM 3 October 1992 2 January 1994 Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.[34]
20 Rear Admiral Harinder Singh AVSM 3 January 1994 28 April 1995 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command.
21 Rear Admiral Arun Prakash AVSM, VrC, VSM 29 April 1995 26 November 1996 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[35][36]
22 Rear Admiral Om Prakash Bansal AVSM, VSM 27 November 1996 14 October 1997 Later served as Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command and as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.[37]
23 Rear Admiral S. V. Gopalachari AVSM, VSM 15 October 1997 10 November 1998 Later Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff.[38]
24 Rear Admiral K. V. Bharathan AVSM, VSM 11 November 1998 14 March 2000 Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.[39]
25 Rear Admiral Arun Kumar Singh AVSM, NM 15 March 2000 7 October 2001 Later served as Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command and as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.[40][41]
26 Rear Admiral Pradeep Kaushiva UYSM, VSM 8 October 2001 26 January 2003 Later Commandant of the National Defence College.[42]
27 Rear Admiral Raman Prem Suthan AVSM, VSM 26 January 2003 29 April 2004 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.[43][44]
28 Rear Admiral S. K. Damle AVSM, NM, VSM 30 April 2004 23 May 2005 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command.[45][46]
29 Rear Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin AVSM, VSM 24 May 2005 23 March 2006 Later Commandant of the National Defence College and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.[47][48]
30 Rear Admiral D. K. Joshi AVSM, YSM, NM, VSM 24 March 2006 15 March 2007 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[47][49]
31 Rear Admiral Robin K. Dhowan AVSM, YSM 15 March 2007 24 January 2008 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[50][51][49]
32 Rear Admiral Satish Soni 16 February 2008 26 November 2008 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.[52][50]
33 Rear Admiral Anurag Thapliyal AVSM, NM 26 November 2008 31 August 2009 Later served as Commandant of Indian Naval Academy and as the Director General of the Indian Coast Guard.[52]
34 Rear Admiral P. N. Murugesan VSM 31 August 2009 24 January 2011 Later served as Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.[53][54]
35 Rear Admiral Harish Bisht 24 January 2011 30 April 2012 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.[55][53][56]
36 Rear Admiral Ajit Kumar P 30 April 2012 15 August 2013 Later served as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.[56]
37 Rear Admiral Atul Kumar Jain VSM 10 July 2013 7 October 2014 Later served as Chief of Integrated Defence Staff.[57]
38 Rear Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh VSM 7 October 2014 6 October 2015 Later served as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.[58]
39 Rear Admiral S. V. Bhokare YSM, NM 12 October 2015 15 October 2016 Later served as Inspector General Nuclear Safety.[59][60]
40 Rear Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta YSM, VSM 14 October 2016 15 January 2018 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.[61]
41 Rear Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi AVSM, NM 15 January 2018 30 March 2019 Current Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.[62]
42 Rear Admiral Suraj Berry AVSM, NM, VSM 30 March 2019 10 February 2020 Current Chief of Personnel (COP).[63][64]
43 Rear Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan NM 10 February 2020 23 February 2021 Current Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Operations).[65]
44 Rear Admiral Tarun Sobti VSM 23 February 2021 20 December 2021 Current Director General Naval Operations.[66]
45 Rear Admiral Sanjay Bhalla 20 December 2021 30 November 2022 Current Chief of Staff, Western Naval Command.[67]
46 Rear Admiral Gurcharan Singh 01 December 2022 10 November 2023 [68]
47 Rear Admiral Rajesh Dhankhar NM 10 November 2023 Present [69]

See also

References

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  2. ^ a b "Blue Print to Blue Water: Chapter 8" (PDF).
  3. ^ Johnson, Cmde Odakkal. "EVOLUTION OF WESTERN NAVAL COMMAND 1612 – 1968".
  4. ^ Singh 1992, pp. 250.
  5. ^ Katari, Ram Dass (1982). A sailor remembers. Vikas. ISBN 9780706920642.
  6. ^ "Indian Navy | Rear Admiral R D Katari [www.bharat-rakshak.com]". bharat-rakshak.com.
  7. ^ Singh, Satyindra (1992). Blueprint to bluewater, the Indian Navy, 1951-65. Lancer International. p. 80. ISBN 9788170621485. OCLC 26503997.
  8. ^ "Golden Jubilee Celebrations of ENC | Indian Navy". indiannavy.nic.in.
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  10. ^ Sarma, S H (2001). My years at sea. Lancer Publishers & Distributors. p. 151. ISBN 978-8170621218.
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  30. ^ "NEW FORTRESS COMMANDER FOR ANDAMAN & NICOBAR. ISLANDS" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in.
  31. ^ "NEW CONTROLLER OF WARSHIP PRODUCTION" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in.
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  54. ^ "VAdm Murugesan takes over as VCNS | Indian Navy". indiannavy.nic.in.
  55. ^ "Rear Admiral Bisht appointed Eastern Fleet Commander". The Hindu. 6 January 2011.
  56. ^ a b "From snake charmer to a great Navy" (PDF). navyfoundationmumbaicharter.in. 2013. p. 38. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  57. ^ "Rear Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh Takes Over as Eastern Fleet Commander | Indian Navy". indiannavy.nic.in.
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  61. ^ "VICE ADMIRAL BISWAJIT DASGUPTA, AVSM, YSM, VSM TAKES OVER AS THE FLAG OFFICER COMMANDING-IN-CHIEF, ENC" (Press release). PIB. 2021-12-01.
  62. ^ "Rear Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi takes over as Eastern Fleet Commander | Indian Navy". indiannavy.nic.in.
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  65. ^ @PRO_Vizag (December 16, 2021). "Vice Adm Sanjay Vatsayan, AVSM NM assumed charge as Chief of Staff of the EasternNavalCommand on 16 Dec 21" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  66. ^ "Rear Adm Tarun Sobti takes over as Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet". pib.gov.in. 23 February 2021.
  67. ^ "REAR ADMIRAL SANJAY BHALLA TAKES OVER AS EASTERN FLEET COMMANDER". pib.gov.in. 2021-12-20.
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  69. ^ "REAR ADMIRAL RAJESH DHANKHAR TAKES OVER COMMAND OF EASTERN FLEET". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 12 November 2023.


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