The Indian Navy: A Guide to Its History and Legacy
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Introduction
India has a 7562 km - long coastline ; nine major and over 100 minor ports 1200 far flung island territories spread over the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea a 2.5 million sq . km of exclusive economic zone ( EEZ ) ; Rs . 24,000 crore worth investment ( replacement cost Rs . 1,20,000 crore ) in offshore oil well assets and an international maritime boundary that extends upto Indonesia , Malaysia , Thailand , Myanmar , Sri Lanka and Pakistan as also , 95 percent of India's trade is by sea .
" History has shown that whatever power controls the Indian Ocean has , in the first instance , India's sea - borne trade at her mercy , and in the second India's very independence itself " . So had stated Jawaharlal Nehru while standing on the quarterdeck on INS Mysore on March 28 , 1958 .
Origins and History
It is during the period of the conflict with the Portuguese , for the establishment of control by the British East India Company , that the Indian Navy had its official beginnings on September 5 , 1612 , the day the East India Company's first squadron of fighting ships arrived at Surat .
The name then given to this initial unit was ' The Honourable East India Company's Marine ' . This name was later changed to ' The Bombay Marine " .This Naval Force was renamed ' Royal Indian Marine ' during the First World War . The Royal Indian Marine Ships Hardinge , Northbrook , Minto and Dufferin where engaged in patrolling the Red Sea and Suez Canal and in carrying troops and war material to Iraq , Egypt and East Africa .
When World War II broke out , the Royal Indian Navy ( as it had then been named ) had eight sea - going ships . Towards the end of the war , the number of vessels , big and small , had Risen to 117. Many of these vessels took active part in operations in the Persian Gulf , Red Sea and Burma theatres of war .
When India became a Republic , the term ‘ Royal ‘ was dropped , and the Navy came to be known as the Indian Navy .The Ministry of Defence acquired the Mazagon Docks in Bombay in 1960 and the Garden Reach Workshops in Calcutta in 1961 These were the first steps in the programme for India to build her own warships
Naval aviation started on a small scale with the commissioning of Indian Navai ship Garuda , the Naval Air Station at Cochin Later , INS Hansa was commissioned in Coimbatore , for jet – propelled aircraft .
In February 1961 , the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant was acquired , greatly increasing the radius of offensive capability of the fleet Submarines have given added strength to the Navy .
Role and Tasks
The role of the Indian Navy is to safeguard the maritime interests of India . In actual effect it covers a much wider horizon and much beyond the task of mere planning and executing a combat operation .
Tasks for the Navy
Towards fulfillment of this role , the Indian Navy has to establish its supremacy in the Indian Ocean and to keep the trade routes open . Therefore , naval responsibility also involves being capable of denying the use of these to our enemy in times of war Strategically , in the naval concept it is more fruitful to cut off the enemy’s supply lines and break his fighting potential than to sink a couple of the enemy’s warships or submarines .
An equally important task is the defence of our coastline , island territories , and offshore assets .
Commodities like oil , armament stores and ammunition are still being imported in India and these contribute directly towards our war effort . In a long – drawn – out war it will be the Navy's responsibility to provide safety to the carriers of these precious commodities The Navy has to consequently counter any attack by hostile ships , submarines , or aircraft . Naval control of shipping is , therefore , a specific task of the Navy and its organization gets activated in time of war
To fulfil its primary role , the Navy has to ensure that air and electronic surveillance is maintained at all times / Surface patrols operate along shipping routes and off focal points .
Underwater surveillance is maintained off all harbours and focal points , and mine sweeping effort is continuous ) Local naval defence flotillas have to operate along the coast and islands at all times .
As and when a threat is perceived an appropriate task force is designated to counter the threat .
The Indian Navy is also responsible for transportation and landing of our army units across seas through amphibious operation Until such time that the army units have firmly established themselves after landing , it is the Navy's responsibility to provide all support .
The role of Search and Rescue ( SAR ) operations at sea has been assigned to the Navy , both in peace and in war . Whenever a distress call is received or a small craft reported missing by any agency , the Navy comes into action to locate and rescue The Navy has also been charged with the responsibility of hydrographic survey of our waters as well as publication of hydrographic documents like almanacs and tide - tables for various ports .
Finally , like the other two services , the Navy has been used for other duties pertaining to aid to civil power and administrative help . Naval personnel and boats have been used in flood - affected areas .Naval expertise has been sought at various ports and shipyards , etc.
Command and Control
The Chiefs of the Army , Navy and the Air Force exercise control of their respective services and mutually cooperate in cases of Joint Committ Operations and common administrative matters . They form a committee called the Chiefs of Staff Committee , which meets often . At slightly lower levels there are numerous inter service organizations which are created to work together for better coordination and to evolve a common approach towards national security .
The Chief of the Naval Staff ( CNS ) is the highest ranking officer in the Navy , holds the rank of Admiral and is stationed at Naval Headquarters ( NHQ ) at New Delhi for better coordination with the Government and other services .
With NHQ the CNS is assisted by Principal Staff Officers ( PSOs ) of the rank of Vice Admniral and each one heads a particular branch . PSOs are assisted by Assistant PSOS , of rank Rear Admiral , or Directors ,of rank Commodores and their staff to look after a particular Directorate
In between the CNS and the PSOS ranks the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff ( VCNS ) who is normally a very senior or sometimes the senior most Vice Admiral of the Navy . He represents the CNS in the latter's absence , coordinates the work and looks after those directorates which relate to long – term planning and policy matters . A diagrammatic representation of NHQ
Regional Commands
The Naval Headquarters at Delhi exercise control over the rest of the Navy through three regional commands as follows :
Command HQ Location
Western Naval Command Mumbai
Southern Naval Command Cochin
Eastern Naval Command
Vishakhapatnam
The Southern Naval Comanand is also designated as the Training Command and is entrusted with the training matters of training schools and establishments wherever these might Be n India .
Other administrative matters of those establishments are looked after by the Command Headquarters of the area where these are located in
The Flag Officer Commanding – in – Chief ( FOC – in – C ) , a Senior Vice Admiral in rank is the overall in- charge of the Command . The organization of a Command Headquarters is more or less on the same lines as that of Naval Headquarters but smaller in manpower .
The functional organisation of Commands Is shown on the next page and the internal
The FOC - in – C is assisted by the Chief of Staff ( COS ) who is a Rear Admiral of the executive branch and deals with operational and plans matters . The Chief Staff Officer , Personnel and Administration ( CSO P& A ) is normally a logistics branch Commodore and he is in charge of personnel matters of all ships and establishments under the command . Similarly , the Chief Staff Officer Technical ( CSO Tech ) is responsible for all technical or repairs matters . He is normally a Commodore of one of the technical branches .
Command Headquarters adiminister control over various units based in their area . These may be ships ,submarines , aircraft , in the form of fleets or flotillas , training ships or training squadrons and shore –based units like dockyards , hospitals , armament depots , training establishments and many others .
Each of these have their own Commanding Officer of a rank appropriate to the role or size of the unit .estern and Eastern Naval Commands are the two bigger commands of the Indian Navy . They have ,under the Western and Eastern Fleets , the main fighting force , as well as the two dockyards i.e.Bombay Dockyard and Vishakhapatnam Dockyard .
The Southern Naval Command has main Air Stations of Naval Aviation and the Training Ship Squadron of the Indian Navy . Like the dockyards at Bombay and vishakhapatnam . Cochin has the main facilities for aircraft maintenance and repairs
The main fleets and the air base is normally under charge of an officer of the rank of Rear Admiral of the Executive Branch And their organizations are purely operational in nature . The two dockyards are large industrial complexes and are commanded by a technical officer of Vice Admiral’s rank and these operate on somewhat industrial Lines
Command Organization
Each of the mobile units like fleets , ships, submarines or aircraft have a designated home port where all the facilities of their personnel are met , for example , family accommodation . Administrative functions are also carried out from the Command Headquarters of their home ports .
Organization of a Fleet
The organization of Eastern and Western Fleets has a predominantly operational basis . Logistics and technical elements are marginal .The Fleet Commander is a Rear Admiral of the Executive Branch . He is assisted by the Fleet Operations Officer of the rank of a senior Captain .
He coordinates the work of all other staff officers of different specialisations considering all aspects of tactical nature plans are drawn for various operations . The Fleet Operations Officer is assisted by the Fleet Navigating and Direction Officer , Fleet Communications Officer , Fleet Gunnery and Missile Officer , Fleet ASW Officer , Fleet Aviation Officer . etc.
The Fleet Commander may also have a Fleet Administrative . Officer , Fleet Engineer Officer and Fleet Electrical Officer Functionally all large ships like aircraft carriers and large destroyers come directly under the Fleet Commander . In case of smaller ships of the same type or class , these are quite often grouped together into squadions headed by a Squadron Commander ( the seniorship of the group )
Organization of a fleet commanders office
The Fleet may be required to be divided into a number of groups for the operational assignment . Based on the nature of operation appropriate class of ships are divided into Task Forces . Each Task Force is under the command of the senior most captain of the group and he is called the Task Force commander
Internal Organization of command Headquarters
Organization of Naval Headquarters
