Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Adhar Kumar Chatterji (4 March 1914 – 6 August 2001) was an Admiral in the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

. He served as the 5th 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

. He is credited with the transformation of the Indian Navy. He made sweeping changes and restructured the navy, creating the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and Eastern Naval Commands and the Western Fleet. Under him, the Indian Navy also entered the submarine age, with the commissioning of in 1967.

Early life

Chatterji was born in

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

on 22 November 1914. He attended the Presidency College (as a graduating student of the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

), graduating in 1933. The same year he saw a notice at the college about the relaxation of entry criteria for the Royal Indian Marine. He applied for and topped the Federal Public Service examination.

Naval career

Early career

Chatterji was one of the first Indian cadet-entry officers to join the Royal Indian Navy in 1933. After training on board the ''Indian Mercantile Marine Training Ship (IMMTS) Dufferin'', he was sent to the United Kingdom. He was commissioned into the

Royal Indian Navy The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British Raj, British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the British Indian Army, Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the ...

as a sub-lieutenant on 1 September 1935. He spent four years training on different ships. On 1 September 1938, he was promoted to the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

. In 1939, he was selected to specialise in

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...

(ASW) and trained in the UK. He completed the course in August 1940 and was appointed an instructor at the ASW training school - HMS Osprey, Portland.

World War II

In late 1940, he was transferred to the Black Swan-class sloop . On 1 January 1942, he was appointed the first officer-in-charge of the ASW school in India - at castle barracks. He also served on board the Black Swan-class sloop . On 23 October 1944, he was promoted to the acting rank of lieutenant-commander and appointed

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of the Bangor-class minesweeper . ''Kathiawar'' was a part of the Eastern Fleet, and escorted numerous convoys between

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

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 ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 1943-45. He then was appointed officer-in-charge of the radar school HMIS Chamak 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 ...

. He was promoted to substantive lieutenant-commander on 1 September 1946. In January 1947, he was selected to attend the

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equi ...

in the UK.

Post-Independence

Chatterji completed the staff course and returned to India in August 1947. He was hand-picked by the Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy, Commodore Martin Henry St. Leger Nott to head the Plans directorate as the Director of Naval Planning at Naval HQ in the rank of

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

. Among the officers serving under him in the directorate was Lieutenant Commander Nilakanta Krishnan. During this stint, he was the lead author of the Plan paper of 1948. In February 1949, he was appointed Commander (

Executive Officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer ...

) of the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

and replaced Commander Ram Dass Katari. In June 1950, he was promoted to the acting rank of

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 appointed

of the ''Delhi''. He was the first Indian officer to command the ship. After a short tenure, he relinquished command, handing over to Captain S. G. Karmarkar in October 1950. In November 1950, Chatterji was appointed the Naval Adviser (NA) to the High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom. He served as the NA to High Commissioners

V. K. Krishna Menon Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon (3 May 1896 – 6 October 1974) was an Indian academic, independence activist, politician, lawyer, and statesman. During his time, Menon contributed to the Indian independence movement and India's foreign r ...

and B. G. Kher. He oversaw the training of hundreds naval cadets and junior officers in the UK. He was promoted to the substantive rank of captain on 30 June 1951. In December 1952, he was appointed Captain (D) 11th Destroyer Flotilla as well as the Commanding Officer of the lead destroyer of the squadron . But the orders were cancelled and he took command of the ''Delhi'' for the second time in January 1953. In mid-1953, to commemorate the

Coronation of Elizabeth II The Coronation of the British monarch, coronation of Elizabeth II as queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. Elizabeth acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon th ...

, a massive Coronation review of the fleet was held at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. The flagship ''INS Delhi'', commanded by Chatterji, destroyer ''INS Ranjit'', commanded by Commander Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda, and the frigate , commanded by Commander Nilakanta Krishnan, represented India at the review. A naval armada consisting of ships from the Indian Navy,

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

and the

Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; ) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of eight ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act 1913, and the subsequent acquisition of the cruiser , whi ...

sailed from Portsmouth to Gibraltar. The fleet carried out exercises along the way and was under the command of

Lord Mountbatten Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979), commonly known as Lord Mountbatten, was ...

. In November 1954, Chatterji was promoted to the acting rank of Commodore. This made him the fourth Indian naval officer to be promoted to this rank, after Ajitendu Chakraverti, Ram Dass Katari and Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman. He was appointed the Commodore-in-Charge Bombay (COMBAY), taking over from Chakraverti. The Bombay Command was the predecessor of the

Western Naval Command The Western Naval Command is one of the three command–level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. As the senior–most of the three formations, the command is responsible for the all naval forces in the A ...

. He held this appointment for two years, till November 1956. In October 1956, Chatterji was selected to attend the Imperial Defence College (IDC) and embarked for the UK in early 1957. After completing the year-long course, he returned to India and was appointed the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff on 8 February 1958.

Flag Rank

On 5 March 1959, the appointment was upgraded to

two-star rank Military star ranking is military terminology, used in mainly English speaking countries, to describe general and flag officers. Within NATO's armed forces, the stars are equal to OF-6–10. Star ranking One-star A one-star rank is usuall ...

and Chatterji was promoted to the acting rank of

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

. Promotion to the substantive rank of Rear Admiral followed, on 5 March 1960. In May 1962, Chatterji took over as the fourth Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet. The

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

had joined the Indian Navy in 1961 and was the

. AS commanding officer, Chatterji flew his flag on the ''Vikrant''. In September 1962, he led the fleet in joint naval-air exercises in the Arabian Sea. Taking part were the aircraft embarked on the ''Vikrant'', the aircraft from the

Naval air station A Naval Air Station (NAS) is a military air base, and consists of a permanent land-based operations locations for the military aviation division of the relevant branch of a navy (Naval aviation). These bases are typically populated by squadron ...

INS Garuda and the aircraft of the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

. In mid-1963, Chatterji led the fleet in exercises in the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. After this, the fleet called on ports in Malaya, Singapore and Thailand. During the exercise and goodwill visit, Chatterji flew his flag on the flagship , which became the first Indian cruiser to visit Thailand. After commanding the Indian fleet for about two years, he relinquished command, handing over to Rear Admiral S.M. Nanda. In January 1964, Chatterji was promoted to the acting rank of

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

and appointed the second

Commandant of the National Defence College The Commandant of the National Defence College in India is the overall in-charge of all the functioning of the National Defence College including academics and administration. The Commandant of the college is a Three-star rank officer from the ...

. He was the first Naval Officer to hold the appointment.

Chief of Naval Staff

In November 1965, Chatterji was appointed the seventh Chief of the Naval Staff. On 4 March 1966, he took over from Vice Admiral Soman. He was confirmed in his rank of vice-admiral on 22 November 1966, and was promoted to the rank of

on 1 March 1968, the first Indian officer to hold the rank. Admiral Chatterji retired from the Indian Navy on 28 February 1970.

Death

Admiral Chatterji died in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

Citations

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chatterji, Adhar Kumar 1914 births 2001 deaths Chiefs of the Naval Staff (India) Indian Navy admirals Flag Officers Commanding Indian Fleet Deputy chiefs of Naval Staff (India) Commandants of National Defence College, India University of Calcutta alumni Royal Indian Navy officers Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Indian naval attachés Graduates of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich