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 ...

Vennam Srinivas,

PVSM Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of India. It is the highest peacetime medal of the Indian Armed Forces, and is awarded for "dist ...

AVSM Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM, ) is a military award of India given to recognize "distinguished service of an exceptional order" to all ranks of the armed forces. The award is a peacetime equivalent of Uttam Yuddh Seva Medal, which is a Wartime ...

, NM is a serving flag officer 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 currently serves as the

Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command The Southern Naval Command is one of the three, command-level formations of the Indian Navy. Southern Naval Command is the largest naval command in India and it has its headquarters in Kochi, Kerala at INS Venduruthy. It is the Training Command ...

. He previously served as the Inspector General Nuclear Safety,

Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area (FOMA) is a senior appointment in the Indian Navy. One of the five Area Commanders of the Indian Navy, the FOMA is a two star admiral holding the rank of Rear Admiral. The FOMA has operational contr ...

(FOMA) and as the Flag Officer Submarines (FOSM).

Naval career

Srinivas was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 1 July 1987. He specialized 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 ...

and joined the submarine arm where he has served for over 30 years. He served onboard the

Shishumar-class submarine The ''Shishumar''-class submarines () are diesel-electric attack submarines, currently in active service with the Indian Navy. These submarines are an Indian variant of the Type 209 submarines developed by the German yard Howaldtswerke-Deutsche ...

s , , and during Operation Vijay. In his staff appointments, he served as Commander (Submarines) at

Commodore Commanding Submarines (West) The Commodore Commanding Submarines (West) is an operational appointment in the Indian Navy. The COMCOS (W) is the commander of the all submarines and allied units of Western Naval Command. Based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, the COMCOS is also the Comm ...

at Mumbai and as the Chief Staff Officer to Flag Officer Submarines. He attended 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 Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air ...

Wellington Wellington 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

and the

Naval War College, Goa The Naval War College (NWC) is a premier training institution of the Indian Navy, located in Goa. The college aims at developing leadership qualities of the officers of the Indian Armed Forces at the strategic and operational level. It is one of th ...

where he was awarded the Commander-in-Chief's Silver Medal. He also attended the Senior Defence Management Course at the

College of Defence Management The College of Defence Management (CDM) is an Indian defence service training institution imparting management training to defence servants. CDM is entrusted with the responsibility of instilling contemporary management thoughts, concepts a ...

, Secunderabad. He has commanded two conventional submarines including the Shishumar-class diesel-electric

attack submarine An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants, and merchant vessels. In the Soviet Navy, Soviet and Russian Navy, Russian navies ...

and the Rajput-class

Guided-missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers which have a pr ...

. He then commanded the

nuclear-powered Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

Chakra A chakra (; ; ) is one of the various focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra, part of the inner traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. The concept of the chakra arose in Hinduism. B ...

. As a

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 ' ...

, Srinivas served as Principal Director Ship Systems and Development (PDSSD) at naval headquarters. He then commanded the Navy’s submarine training establishment

INS Satavahana INS Satavahana is the premier Submarine Training Base of the Indian Navy and is located at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Training is carried out by the Submarine School (SMS) and the Escape Training School (ETS) and the School of Advanced Under ...

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

Flag rank

On 24 October 2016, Srinivas was appointed Flag Officer Submarines (FOSM), taking over from Rear Admiral Sanjay Mahindru. He had a long tenure as FOSM, till February 2020. On 8 February, he was appointed

and took over from Rear Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar. After a year-long tenure, he moved to NHQ to head the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project. He subsequently was promoted to the rank of

and was appointed Inspector General Nuclear Safety. He was appointed as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief,

Southern Naval Command The Southern Naval Command is one of the three, command-level formations of the Indian Navy. Southern Naval Command is the largest naval command in India and it has its headquarters in Kochi, Kerala at INS Venduruthy. It is the Training Comman ...

on 5 December 2023, and assumed the office on 31 December 2023 succeeding

M. A. Hampiholi.

Awards and decorations

Srinivas was awarded the

Nao Sena Medal Nau Sena Medal (also spelt ''Nao Sena Medal'', lit. ''Navy Medal'') is a gallantry award for servicemen in the Indian Navy. History The Nau Sena Medal was instituted on 26 January 1960 by the Government of India, with the approval of the Presid ...

in 2009, the

Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM, ) is a military award of India given to recognize "distinguished service of an exceptional order" to all ranks of the armed forces. The award is a peacetime equivalent of Uttam Yuddh Seva Medal, which is a Wartime D ...

in 2021 and the

Param Vishisht Seva Medal Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of India. It is the highest peacetime medal of the Indian Armed Forces, and is awarded for "dist ...

in 2025.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Srinivas, Vennam Living people Indian Navy vice admirals Flag Officers Submarines (India) Year of birth missing (living people) Recipients of the Nau Sena Medal Defence Services Staff College alumni Naval War College, Goa alumni Flag Officers Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area

Naval career

Flag rank

Awards and decorations

See also

References