Admiral Sirimevan Sarathchandra Ranasinghe, WWV, RWP, USP is a retired Sri Lankan admiral and the former

Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy The Commander of the Navy is the professional head of the Sri Lanka Navy. The current Commander of the Navy is Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera. It is a position equivalent to that of First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy or Chief of Naval Operatio ...

Early life and education

Ranasinghe received his education from

St. Joseph's College, Anuradhapura St. Joseph's College is a National school for boys located in Anuradhapura, North Central Province, Sri Lanka North Central Province ( si, උතුරු මැද පළාත ''Uturumæda Paḷāta'', ta, வட மத்திய ம� ...

and the

Anuradhapura Central College Anuradhapura Central College ( si, මධ්‍ය විද්‍යාලය, අනුරාධපුර, ta, மத்திய கல்லூரி, அனுராதபுரம்) is a mixed educational establishment in North Central ...

. He holds an

MPhil The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

in Defence and Strategic Studies from the

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

and a Msc in War Studies and Defence Management from the

National Defence University, Pakistan , native_name_lang = ur , image = National Defence University, Pakistan Logo.png , image_upright = , image_alt = , caption = Seal of the NDU , former_name = National Defence College , motto ...

Naval career

He enlisted in the

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

as an

Officer Cadet Officer Cadet is a rank held by military cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by members of University Royal Naval Units, University Officer Training Corps and University ...

in its 11th Intake on 15 November 1982, undergoing basic training at the Naval and Maritime Academy, Trincomalee, where he was adjudged the best cadet and selected for an international

midshipmen A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Af ...

course at the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, which he attended between 1984 and 1985. He is an

anti submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in 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 are typi ...

specialist (having trained at

INS Venduruthy INS Venduruthy is an Indian Navy base located on Willingdon Island in Kochi, Kerala. It serves as the Headquarters of the Southern Naval Command. It is the largest training establishment of the Indian Navy. INS Garuda is a naval air station lo ...

), and did his Naval Staff Course in 1999 at the

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 ...

, India. Ranasinghe has held the command of various ships and craft during his career in the navy, including

SLNS Samudura SLNS ''Samudura'' (P621) () is a Sri Lanka Navy Offshore Patrol Vessel. Originally commissioned by the United States Coast Guard in 1968 as the medium endurance cutter USCGC ''Courageous'', she was donated to Sri Lanka in 2004 and commissioned on ...

(Commissioning Commanding Officer of US Coast Guard Cutter received from the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

), and the Fast Attack Squadron between 2002 and 2004. He attended the Allied Officers’ War Course at the National Defence University in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capita ...

in 2007, and a National Defence Course in 2012 at the National Defence College,

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 ...

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: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Maithripala Sirisena Maithripala Yapa Sirisena ( si, පල්ලෙවත්‍ත ගමරාළලාගේ මෛත්‍රීපාල යාපා සිරිසේන; ta, பல்லேவத்த கமராளலாகே மைத்திரி� ...

appointed Ranasinghe the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Navy with effect from 11 July 2015. Prior to this appointment, he served as the 4th Director General of the

Sri Lanka Coast Guard The Sri Lanka Coast Guard (SLCG) ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා වෙරළාරක්ෂක දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව, Śrī Laṃkā veralārakshaka depārtamēntuwa; ta, இலங்கை கடலோர பாது ...

(appointed in August 2016). Other commands he has held include the Western Naval Command (2013-2014), Southern Naval Command (2012) and Deputy to the Southern Naval Command (2008). Staff commands he has held include those as Commandant of the Naval and Maritime Academy, Director Naval Operations, Director Naval Weapons, Director Marine Special Forces and Director Naval Projects and Plans. Ranasinghe was appointed Commander of the Navy effective 26 October 2017, replacing Travis Sinniah. He was promoted to the rank of Admiral on 31 December 2018 and retired on 1 January 2019.

Personal life

Sirimevan is a keen sportsman, and has received Britannia Royal Naval College Colours for Badminton, and a Triple Crown in Badminton in the Inter-command Navy Tournament 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ranasinghe, Sirimevan Commanders of the Navy (Sri Lanka) Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College Living people National Defense University alumni Sinhalese military personnel Sri Lankan admirals University of Madras alumni Year of birth missing (living people) National Defence College, India alumni Defence Services Staff College alumni