Admiral Wannakuwatta Waduge Erwin Clancy Fernando VSV, USP, MSc, ndc, psc, MNI, SLN (In

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language Sinhala ( ; , ''siṁhala'', ), sometimes called Sinhalese (), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language prima ...

: ක්ලැන්සි ෆර්නැන්ඩෝ) (10 October 1938 – 16 November 1992) was the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy from 1 November 1991 to 16 November 1992. He was assassinated by the

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

Suicide terrorism: a global threat, www.janes.com
/ref> in 1992, as the most senior officer in the Sri Lankan military to be killed in the line of duty.

Education

Admiral Fernando received his secondary education at

Prince of Wales' College, Moratuwa Prince of Wales' College ( Sinhala: වේල්ස් කුමර විද්‍යාලය ''Wels Kumara Vidyalaya'', Tamil: பிரின்ஸ் ஆஃப் வேல்ஸ் கல்லூரி) is a selective entry boys' school ...

. He was a member of the team Western Band

. He held the memberships of the

British Institute of Management The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is a professional institution for management based in the United Kingdom. The major membership classes are ''Member'', ''Fellow'' - for those with significant expertise - and ''Companion'' - the most sen ...

, and the

Nautical Institute The Nautical Institute (NI) is an international professional organisation for maritime professionals, based in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1971 and has the status of a company limited by guarantee and is registered with the Charity C ...

and had obtained a master's degree in defence studies. He had also been conferred with the certificate of Master Mariners and was the first President of Sri Lanka Branch of the

Naval career

After completing his schooling he enlisted as a

cadet officer St John Ambulance Ireland (SJAI), previously known as the St John Ambulance Brigade of Ireland, is a charitable voluntary organisation in Ireland. For constitutional reasons it is not a full member association of the Venerable Order of Saint Jo ...

in the

Royal Ceylon Navy ta, இலங்கை கடற்படை , image = Sri Lanka Naval Seal.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of Sri Lanka Navy , dates = , c ...

in December 1957. After completing basic training, he proceeded for training at

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC), commonly known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, ...

Dartmouth Dartmouth may refer to: Places * Dartmouth, Devon, England ** Dartmouth Harbour * Dartmouth, Massachusetts, United States * Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada * Dartmouth, Victoria, Australia Institutions * Dartmouth College, Ivy League university i ...

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

. On his return he served with the Royal Ceylon Navy in Trincomalee, Tangalle and Karainagar, serving on board HMCyS Aliya and HMCyS Gajabahu, the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of 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 the f ...

of the fleet. He served as the commanding officer of HMCyS Diyakawa, SLNS Ranakamee and the SLNS Samudra Devi, which was the flagship of the fleet in 1980. During his service years, he introduced the Sinhala communication system into the navy and authored the book on ‘Customs and etiquettes of Services’. In 1977, he attended

Defence Services Staff College The Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) is a defence service training institution of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. It trains officers of all three services of the Indian Armed Forces – ( Indian Military Service, Indian Nav ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by m ...

. Promoted to the rank of

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain ...

in March 1978, he was the Commanding Officer of the SLNS Tissa and thereafter SLNS Elara, and served as the Master of the Ceylon Shipping Corporations MV Lanka Kanthi. On 30 June 1983, he was appointed Director Naval Operations. Promoted the rank of

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

on 1 January 1984, he was appointed Commandant of the

Naval and Maritime Academy Naval and Maritime Academy (NMA), Trincomalee, is the naval academy of the Sri Lanka Navy, and is located within SLN Dockyard, Trincomalee. It received university status in 2001 under the leadership of Commodore SR Samaratunga. History The ...

. He was promoted to

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

in July 1986 and served as Commander Western Naval Area, Commander Eastern Naval Area, and Security Forces Commander, Trincomalee. In 1987, he attended the National Defence College in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...

. In 1991, he was promoted to the rank of

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often rega ...

and held the post of the Chief of Staff of the navy, shortly he was promoted to the rank of vice admiral on appointment to the office of the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy on 1 November 1991. After becoming navy commander he intensified naval operations against the

, effectively denying the terrorist free use of the sea.

Assassination

He was assassinated by a

suicide bomber A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout history ...

who drove an explosives laden motorbike into his

staff car A staff car is a vehicle used by a senior military officer, and is part of their country's white fleet. The term is most often used in relation to the United Kingdom where they were first used in quantity during World War I, examples being the ...

on the 16 November 1992 at 8.35 a.m, in front of the

Galle Face Green Galle Face is a ocean-side urban park, which stretches for along the coast, in the heart of Colombo, the financial and business capital of Sri Lanka. The promenade was initially laid out in 1859 by Governor Sir Henry George Ward, although t ...

. Killed in the bombing was

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

(posthumously

lieutenant-commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

) Sandun Gunasekera, his flag lieutenant and his driver. He was on his way to naval headquarters at Flagstaff Street in the Galle Buck from his official residence "Navy House" at Longden Place,

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

after he returned from India after discussing Indo-Sri Lankan naval cooperation.

Honors

He was posthumously promoted to Admiral and awarded the

Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya The Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya (VSV, Distinguished Service Decoration) ( Sinhala: විශිෂ්ට සේවා විභූෂණය ''viṣiṣta sēvā vibhūṣaṇaya'') is awarded to senior officers of the Military of Sri Lanka in rec ...

and the

Uttama Seva Padakkama The Uttama Seva Padakkama (USP, Eminent Service Medal) (Sinhala language, Sinhala: උත්තම සේවා පදක්කම ''uṭṭama sēvā padakkama'') is presented to all ranks of the regular forces of the Military of Sri Lanka, Sri ...

. While in service he had received the Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal and Clasp,

Republic of Sri Lanka Armed Services Medal The Republic of Sri Lanka Armed Services Medal was awarded to members of the regular and volunteer forces of the Military of Sri Lanka who were in service on 22 May 1972, subject to recommendation by the commanders of the respective service com ...

Ceylon Armed Services Long Service Medal The Ceylon Armed Services Long Service Medal ( Sinhala: සන්නද්ධ සේවා දීර්ඝ සේවා පදක්කම ''ārakśaka sēvā dhīrgha sēvā padakkama'') was a service medal of Ceylon from 1968 to 1972. It was g ...

and

Clasp Clasp, clasper or CLASP may refer to: * Wrist clasp, a dressing accessory * Folding clasp, a device used to close a watch strap * Medal bar, an element in military decoration * Fastener, a hardware device that mechanically joins objects together * ...

Purna Bhumi Padakkama The Purna Bhumi Padakkama ( Sinhala: පූර්ණ භූමි පදක්කම ''pūrna bhūmi padakkama'') was a service medal awarded by the Military of Sri Lanka (regular and volunteer) and Sri Lanka Police to all ranks of its forces in ...

President's Inauguration Medal __NOTOC__ The President's Inauguration Medal ( Sinhala: ජනාධිපති ධූරප්‍රාප්ත පදක්කම ''janādhipathi dhūraprāptha padakkama'') was a decoration of the Military of Sri Lanka, granted to all regula ...

and the

Sri Lanka Navy 25th Anniversary Medal The Sri Lanka Navy 25th Anniversary Medal ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා නාවික හමුදා 25වන සංවත්සර පදක්කම ''Śrī Laṃkā nāvika hamudā visipasvana sangwathsara padakkama'') was awarde ...