Abdul Waheed Bhombal (13 October 1931 – 31 December 2008), , best known as A. W. Bhombal was a two-star rank admiral in the

Pakistan Navy The Pakistan Navy (PN) (; ''romanized'': Pākistān Bahrí'a; ) is the naval warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The Chief of the Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Com ...

and the chairman of the

Pakistan National Shipping Corporation The Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) is a Pakistani national flag carrier headquartered in Karachi. The corporation is principally engaged in the business of shipping, including charter of vessels, transportation of cargo and prov ...

from 1980 until retirement from military service in 1986. Bhombal was disciplined by the Pakistani Navy for his role in the friendly fire sinking of PNS Zulfiqar after the missile attack on the

Port of Karachi The Port of Karachi (, ''Bandar gāh Karāchī'') is one of South Asia's largest and busiest deep-water seaports, handling about 60% of the nation's cargo (25 million tons per annum) located in Karachi, Pakistan. It is located on the Karachi H ...

Biography

Abdul Waheed Bhombal was born on 13 October 1931 in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, Bombay Presidency,

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(in present-day

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

). He was the son of E.S.B. Bhombal and was of

Konkani __NOTOC__ Konkani may refer to: Language * Konkani language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Konkan region of India. * Konkani alphabets, different scripts used to write the language **Konkani in the Roman script, one of the scripts used to ...

descent. Bhombal enlisted in the

Pakistani Navy The Pakistan Navy (PN) (; ''romanized'': Pākistān Bahrí'a; ) is the naval warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The Chief of the Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Commi ...

in 1949, and was trained in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

before participating in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. In 1971,

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

Bhombal volunteered to join the Pakistan Naval Aviation, boarding a civilian PIA's

Fokker F27 The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...

aircraft after the first missile attack in the

to conduct

maritime reconnaissance Maritime patrol or maritime reconnaissance is the task of monitoring areas of water. Generally conducted by military and law enforcement agencies, maritime patrol is usually aimed at identifying human activities. Maritime patrol refers to active ...

. While in the west of Cape Monze, Bhombal reportedly gave the clearance to the Faisal Air Force Base in Karachi to scramble

North American F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

jets to attack a presumed Indian Navy missile boat that was later identified as the PNS ''Zulfiqar (K265)''— the large ''River''-class frigate. After the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 with India in 1971, the

Pakistan Air Force The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...

held the Navy responsible for the friendly fire incident took place on PNS Zulfiqar, and held Cdre. A. W. Bhombal responsible for giving clearance to the fighter aircraft, when had little experience in conducting the maritime reconnaissance. In 1972, the Navy reportedly accepted the Air Force's recommendation and took the disciplinary action, with Bhombal was reportedly demoted from his one-star rank to

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, and was directed to attend the

National Defense University National Defence (or Defense) University (or College) may refer to: :''Alphabetical by country'' University * Marshal Fahim National Defense University, Afghanistan * National Defense University (Azerbaijan) * People's Liberation Army National Defe ...

. Bhombal earned a MSc in war studies in 1973, graduating alongside Lieutenant-Colonel

Mirza Aslam Beg Mirza Aslam Beg (born 15 February 1928), also known as M. A. Beg, is a retired Pakistani four-star rank general who served as the third Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army from 1988 until his retirement in 1991. His appointment as chief ...

. After his graduation in 1973, Capt. Bhombal joined the faculty staff of the

Pakistan Naval War College The Pakistan Navy War College is a military staff college located in Walton Cantonment in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. The Navy War College takes pride itself as being the "center of excellence" as it educates and develops leaders in maritime mat ...

in Lahore as a professor of war studies. He was later appointed as commandant of the staff college— the

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associa ...

in Lahore. In 1977, Capt. Bhombal was promoted back to the one-star rank, Commodore, and posted as the General-Manager at the

Karachi Port Trust The Karachi Port Trust (KPT) () is a Government of Pakistan, Pakistani federal government agency, under the administrative control of the Maritime Secretary of Pakistan, Federal Maritime Secretary that oversees the operations of the Port of Ka ...

(GM KPT). In 1980, Cdre. Bhombal was promoted to the two-star rank, of Rear-Admiral, and posted as the Chairman of the

(PNSC) on 4 December 1980. R-Adm. Bhombal chaired the PNSC for six years, eventually retiring on 11 January 1986, and his tenureship was regarded as successfully as the PNSC turned into a profitable state corporation. In 1980, Bhombal was appointed as the president of the Pakistan Squash Federation, and oversaw the first Pakistan Open in 1980 in Karachi. He remained the president until 1986. After his retirement, was involved in an incident when a group of

Dacoits Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word डाकू (ḍākū); "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with the meaning "a robber belonging to an armed ...

held him on gun point in his car while making a monetary transaction from the bank in 1988. Bhombal died in

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

, on 31 December 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhombal, A. W. 1931 births 2008 deaths Muhajir people Pakistani people of Konkani descent Military personnel from Karachi Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College Pakistan Navy rear admirals Admirals of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 National Defence University, Pakistan alumni Academic staff of Pakistan Naval War College Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz People from Peshawar

Biography

See also

References