Haji Mohammad Siddiq Choudri MBE (

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

: ; b. 1912—27 February 2004), popularly known as HMS Choudhri, was a

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 ...

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 ...

who was the first native Commander in Chief of

. In 1953, he was appointed as second Commander-in-Chief after taking over the command from

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 ...

's Rear Admiral J.W. Jefford, and served under two Governor-Generals from 1953 to 1956, and then under

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Iskander Mirza Iskander Ali Mirza (13 November 189913 November 1969) was a Bengali politician, statesman and military general who served as the Dominion of Pakistan's fourth and last governor-general of Pakistan from 1955 to 1956, and then as the Islamic Repub ...

from 1956 until 1959. He resigned from his command due to differences regarding the navy's plans of modernization and to end the

interservice rivalry Interservice rivalry is rivalry between different Military branch, branches of a country's Military, armed forces. This may include competition between army, land, Marines, marine, navy, naval, Coast guard, coastal, air force, air, or space for ...

with Army GHQ, Pakistan MoD, and the

Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

on 26 January 1959. He was one of the only few military officials who resigned from their commission over the disagreement with the civilian government and was eventually succeeded by Vice-Admiral A. R. Khan on 28 February 1959. He died on 27 February 2004 and was buried in military graveyard in Karachi with full military honors.

Early life

Haji Mohammad Choudhri was born in

Batala Batala is the eighth largest city in the state of Punjab, India in terms of population after Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Bathinda, Mohali and Hoshiarpur. Batala ranks as the second-oldest city after Bathinda. It is a municipal cor ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

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 1912 in an

Arain Arain (also known as Raeen) are a large Punjabi Muslim agricultural community with a strong political identity and level of organisation. At the beginning of the last century, they numbered around 1 million and were mainly rural cultivator ...

familyAqil A. Jafri, ''Pakistan Chronicle'', Virsa Publications, Karachi p.925. He is the cousin of Dr Raees M Mushtaq's Father. Very little is known about his early life which based on combined military history of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

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# ...

. As many of contemporaries in the British Indian military, he was educated at the

Rashtriya Indian Military College The Rashtriya Indian Military College (abbreviated RIMC; formerly known as Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College) () is a military school for boys situated in Doon Valley, Dehradun in India. The RIMC is a feeder institution for the Nation ...

and later joined the

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in the

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Naval career

Early career

He was among the first Indians and first

Indian Muslim Islam is India's Religion in India, second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, or approximately 172.2 million people, identifying as adherents of Islam in a 2011 census. India also has the Islam by country, third-larg ...

to be commissioned a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

in 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 ...

's Executive Branch in 1931. On 1 September 1933, he was promoted to sub-lieutenant, receiving promotion to lieutenant on 1 September 1936. On 24 May 1938, he was assigned to the escort vessel HMIS ''Lawrence'' as its first lieutenant and was serving in this position at the outbreak of war in 1939; the future Indian Navy CNS Sourendra Nath Kohli served under him as a sub-lieutenant.

World War II

He was trained as

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

and

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapon ...

specialist and held various

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

's appointments both at sea and with land-based naval formations before and after the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. At the outset of the war, he saw action against the Italian ''Regia Marina'' in the Red Sea and off the Somali coasts. In 1942, he was sent to Britain where he qualified as a specialist officer in the Torpedo Branch. He then went to the United States in 1943, delivering lectures on the role of the Royal Indian Navy. On 25 March 1944, Choudhri was promoted to acting lieutenant-commander and given command of the minesweeper HMIS ''Rohilkand''. On 1 September 1944, he was promoted to substantive lieutenant-commander, the first Indian to become a substantive senior line officer in the RIN. He participated in the Pacific theatre against the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

. On 10 February 1945, he was promoted to acting commander and assigned to the sloop HMIS ''Godavari'' as its executive officer. In the 1945 Birthday Honours List, he was appointed a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, Military Division (MBE). He witnessed the Japanese surrender in 1945 and commanded a naval division that consisted of the two-ship formation that represented the Royal Indian Navy. After the war, Choudhri served on the Armed Forces Nationalisation Committee, and was promoted to acting captain in July 1947.

Post-Independence

In 1947, Choudhri served on the committee that was involved in the division of the RIN's assets between India and Pakistan. At the time of the partition 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 ...

Choudhri was the senior-most Indian naval officer. He decided to opt for

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

. He was among the first twenty naval officers who joined the Royal Pakistan Navy (RPN) as a

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 ...

with a

service number A service number or roll number is an identification code used to identify a person within a large group. Service numbers are most often associated with the military; however, they also may be used in civilian organizations. National identificati ...

PN. 0001. He was the first most senior and the only

in the navy in terms of seniority list provided by the

to the Ministry of Defense (MoD) in 1947. He did not actively participated in first war with

in 1947, instead he commanded a destroyer from

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 ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

to oversee the evacuation of Indian emigrants to Pakistan. In 1950, he was promoted to one-star rank, Commodore, and appointed to serve as deputy commander in chief under

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 ...

J.W. Jefford. Jefford's retirement was due in 1951 and favoured continuously appointing the British officers in the armed forces.

Commander-in-Chief

The

Pakistan government The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, cons ...

called for appointing a native commanders-in-chief of

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

air force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

and

navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

and dismissed deputation appointments from the

British military The British Armed Forces are the unified military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping e ...

. In terms of seniority, he was the most senior officer to be appointed as an admiral in the navy but the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom that was responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Historically, its titular head was the Lord High Admiral of the ...

and Commodore Choudhri himself was in doubt to be appointed as commander of navy mainly because of his youth and lack of experience in

military staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large militar ...

ing.

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan (1 October 189516 October 1951) was a Pakistani lawyer, politician and statesman who served as the first prime minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the he ...

approved his nomination papers as navy's commander in chief on the condition that he would spend a year in commanding a squadron in sea, and then attend the

Imperial Defence College The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

. Upon returning to Pakistan in 1952 after he gained

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large milita ...

degree, he was appointed as Deputy Commander-in-Chief at the NHQ where he established staff corps and

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

. Although, the Pakistani government announced the appointment of navy's first native commander in chief in 1951 and Commodore Choudhri's nomination papers being approved by Prime Minister Ali Khan also in 1951, his appointment as navy's first native commander-in-chief came only in effect in 1953 with the crucial help provided from the army's Commander-in-Chief General Ayub Khan. He was promoted as

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 ...

and assumed the command of the navy with an objective of expanding navy's resources and infrastructure. In 1951, Admiral Choudri decided to build the submarines and warships at the Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works, relaying his plans to the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

and

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

, but was told by the civilian planners that the " second-hand ships from the

would be better off for Pakistan", that eventually led the Navy to rely on the obsolete vessels that had to be acquire from the

. From 1953 to 1956, he bitterly negotiated with the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

and

over the acquisition of

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...

and made several unsuccessful attempts for the procurement of submarines imported from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In 1954, he convinced the U.S. government to provide monetary support for modernization of aging O–class destroyers and minesweepers, while commissioning the Ch–class destroyers from

British 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 ...

. In 1955, Admiral Choudhri cancelled and disbanded the

tradition in the

when the

's advisers were dispatched to the

Pakistani military The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the Military, military forces of Pakistan. It is the List of countries by number of military and paramilitary personnel, world's sixth-largest military measured by Active duty, active military personnel and c ...

. British military tradition were only kept in the

due to being under its British commander and major staff consisting of

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

officers. Despite initiatives, the Admiralty's influence slowly vanished from the navy until the native officers were educated and promoted to flag ranks to replace the

's officers In 1956, Admiral Choudhri sent recommendations for the construction of the seaport in Ormara and a

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usu ...

that would linked the Sonmiani but it was bypassed Ministry of Shipping that cited financial constraints. In 1957, he finalize the sale of

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...

warship from the United Kingdom, and used the government's own fund to induct the warship that caused a great ire against Admiral Choudhri by the

Finance ministry A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

in the country. In 1958, he made an unsuccessful attempt induct the imported submarines from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

using the American funds that was halted by the

and the Pakistan's own

despite he had support from

Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army The Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army (abbreviation: C-in-C of the Pakistan Army) was the professional head of the Pakistan Army from 1947 to 1972. As an administrative position, the appointment holder had main operational command autho ...

General Ayub.

Resignation

In 1958, his Navy NHQ staff began fighting with the Army GHQ staff and the

(MoD) over the plans regarding the modernization of the navy. He was in bitter conflict with General Ayub who saw the purchase of ''PNS Baber'' and his submarine procurement approaches had jeopardized the foreign military relations with the United States. The MoD did sanctioned to pay off the costly ''PNS Baber'' but halted the crucial funds for the operations of the navy which had been assembled since 1956. In another

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and ...

meeting chaired by General Ayub in 1958, he became involved with heated debate over the financial costs for the naval operations in deep sea. General Ayub reportedly reached out to the

and lodged a complained against Admiral Choudhri by noting the Admiral of "neither having the brain, imagination or depth of thought to understand such (defence) problems nor the vision or the ability to make any contribution." Admiral Choudhri then was called to meet with President Mirza to resolve the

between the

and

but it was ended with "stormy interview" with the President. Upon returning to NHQ, Admiral Choudhry decided to tender his resignation to broke the interservice impasse in protest as result of having differences with

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

's plans of expansion and modernization. He resigned the command of the navy on 26 January 1959 and cited to President: "major decision

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

have been taken with disagreement with the technical advice I have consistently tendered.... concerning the concept of our defence, the appointment of our available budget, and the size and shape of our Navy." In 1958,

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 vic ...

Afzal Rahman Khan, who was known to be a confidant of General Ayub Khan, was appointed as naval chief by President Mirza.

Post-retirement and death

After retiring from Navy, he went on to establish Merchant Navy and promoted civilian shipping trade throughout his life. After retiring from Navy in 1959, he founded and became

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

of Pakistan Institute of Maritime Affairs (PIMA) which he remained associated with until his death in 2004. He avoided

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

and provided no commentaries on conflicts and wars with neighboring

in successive years of

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, and

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

. He died of old age on 27 February 2004 and was buried in a military graveyard in

. In his honor, the government established the "HMS Choudhri Memorial Hall" at the National Defence University in Islamabad in 2005.

References

External links

Pakistani Defence Forum

Official website of Pakistan Navy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choudri, Hms 1912 births 2004 deaths People from Gurdaspur district Rashtriya Indian Military College alumni Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College Royal Indian Navy officers Indian military personnel of World War II Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies People of the Indo-Pakistani war of 1947–1948 Pakistan Navy vice admirals Chiefs of Naval Staff (Pakistan) Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz Pakistan Merchant Navy Indian Members of the Order of the British Empire Pakistani recipients of the Order of the British Empire