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 of the Indian Navy.
The Command is commanded by a Three Star Flag Officer of the rank of Vice Admiral with the title Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command (FOC-in-C). Vice Admiral Sameer Saxena, AVSM, NM is the current FOC-in-C SNC, who took over on 31 December 2023.
History
After the independence and the partition of India on 15 August 1947, the ships and personnel of the Royal Indian Navy were divided between the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The division of the ships was on the basis of two-thirds of the fleet to India, one third to Pakistan.Bhatia (1977), p. 28: "Consequent on the partition of the country on 15 August 1947, two thirds of the undivided fleet and associated assets came to India."
The shore establishments on the southern coast were headed by the Commodore Cochin (COMCHIN), a one star appointment. The COMCHIN directly reported into the Chief of the Naval Staff. In 1967, the Goa Area was included under COMCHIN. On 1 March 1968, the Commodore Cochin (COMCHIN) was re-designated as Commodore Commanding Southern Naval Area (COMSOUTH). In August 1970, the appointment of COMSOUTH was upgraded to the two-star rank of Rear Admiral and was re-designated Flag Officer Commanding Southern Naval Area (FOCSOUTH). This appointment was later upgraded, in October 1977, to the three star rank of Vice Admiral and re-designated Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command (FOC-in-C SNC). On 1 July 1986, the Southern Naval Command was made the Training Command. All the training establishments were placed under the command as well as the responsibility of formulating and executing of training policy.
Area of responsibility The Southern Naval Command and is commanded by the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief. The Southern Naval Command is the Training Command of Indian Navy and is responsible for the training of all its personnel, both officers as well as sailors, from basic to advance stages. It has subsidiary units from Jamnagar in Gujarat to Lonavala in Maharashtra, Goa and in Orissa but the majority of training units are in Kochi. The Indian Naval Academy is also placed under the Southern Naval Command.
Kavaratti Islands is the home to INS Dweeprakshak, the main naval base of the Southern Naval Command in the Lakshadweep islands.
Capabilities The Southern Naval Command consists of a Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST), the 1st Training Squadron (1TS), training establishments and bases, and land forces and survey & Patrol ships in addition to other smaller Patrol crafts and boats. It has a naval air station, and a ship repair yard.
Organisation The Southern Naval Command is organised as follows: PostCurrent HolderReferencesFlag Officer Commanding-in-ChiefVice Admiral Sameer Saxena, AVSM, NMChief of StaffRear Admiral Upal KunduCommandant of Indian Naval AcademyVice Admiral Alok Ananda, YSMFlag Officer Sea Training (FOST)Rear Admiral Sundeep Singh RandhawaCommandant Naval War College, GoaRear Admiral Arjun Dev Nair, VSMAdmiral Superintendent Yards (ASY) - KochiRear Admiral Sanjay SharmaChief Staff Officer (Training)Rear Admiral Deepak Singhal
Naval bases
The naval bases under Southern Naval Command are as follows: BaseCity State/TerritoryRoleINS DweeprakshakKavarattiLakshwadweepLogistics and Maintenance supportINS MinicoyMinicoyForward Operating BaseINS Androth (Under construction)AndrothForward Operating Base and Radar stationINS GarudaKochiKeralaNaval Air StationINHS SanjivaniNaval HospitalINS VenduruthyLogistics and Administrative supportINS DronacharyaNaval Weapons TrainingINS ChilkaChilkaOdishaNaval TrainingINHS NivariniNaval HospitalINS MandoviPanajiGoaNaval TrainingINS HamlaMumbaiMaharashtraCombined Operations TrainingINS ShivajiLonavalaTechnical TrainingINHS KasturiNaval HospitalINS ValsuraJamnagarGujaratElectric Equipment TrainingINS RajaliArakkonamTamil NaduNaval Air BaseINS AgraniCoimbatoreLeadership TrainingINS ZamorinEzhimalaKeralaLogistics and Maintenance support to Indian Naval AcademyINS SatavahanaVisakhapatnamAndhra PradeshSubmarine Warfare Training
List of Commanders S.No Name Assumed office Left office Notes ReferencesCommodore-in-Charge Cochin (COMCHIN)1Commodore M. H. St. L. Nott August 1947March 1948Formerly Royal Indian Navy. Killed in an air accident at Corsica 27 March 1948.2Commodore Henry Bramhall EllisonMarch 1948July 1950Seconded from the Royal Navy3Commodore Eric G. McGregor July 1950November 1952Seconded from the Royal Navy4Commodore A. D. H. Jay November 1952January 1954Seconded from the Royal Navy5Commodore Bhaskar Sadashiv SomanJanuary 1954October 1956Later Chief of the Naval Staff6Commodore Sadashiv Ganesh Karmarkar 1 May 1957April 19607Commodore Reginald Sherring DavidApril 1960June 19628Commodore G. S. KapoorJune 1962December 19659Commodore J. D. ModyDecember 1965January 196810Commodore Inder SinghJanuary 1968February 1968Commodore Commanding Southern Naval Area (COMSOUTH)1Commodore Inder SinghMarch 1968November 1970Flag Officer Commanding Southern Naval Area (FOCSOUTH)1Rear Admiral V. A. Kamath November 1970March 19732Rear Admiral Elenjikal Chandy Kuruvila March 1973October 19733Rear Admiral S. H. Sarma October 1973January 19754Rear Admiral Ronald Lynsdale Pereira January 197516 April 1976Later Chief of the Naval Staff.5Rear Admiral V. E. C. Barboza 16 April 197626 October 1977Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command (FOC-in-C SNC)1Vice Admiral V. E. C. Barboza 26 October 19773 March 19792Vice Admiral Oscar Stanley Dawson 30 March 197926 February 1982Later Chief of the Naval Staff.3Vice Admiral Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani 26 February 198230 March 1983Later Chief of the Naval Staff.4Vice Admiral K. K. Nayyar 30 March 198328 November 1984Later Vice-Chief of the Naval Staff.5Vice Admiral G. M. Hiranandani 28 November 198430 November 1987Later Vice-Chief of the Naval Staff6Vice Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas 30 November 198725 February 1989Later Chief of the Naval Staff7Vice Admiral R. P. Sawhney 25 February 198930 September 19908Vice Admiral Suren P. Govil 1 October 199030 December 19909Vice Admiral KASZ Raju 30 December 199029 August 199210Vice Admiral S. K. Chand 29 August 199214 October 1993Later Vice-Chief of the Naval Staff11Vice Admiral Inderjit Bedi 17 October 199330 April 199612Vice Admiral A. R. Tandon 30 April 199623 October 199613Vice Admiral Madhvendra Singh 23 October 199631 March 1998Later Chief of the Naval Staff14Vice Admiral Sushil Kumar 31 March 199830 December 1998Later Chief of the Naval Staff15Vice Admiral R. N. Ganesh 8 March 1999March 200116Vice Admiral Harinder Singh March 2001May 200217Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh 31 May 20021 October 200318Vice Admiral Yashwant Prasad 15 October 20031 August 200419Vice Admiral S. C. S. Bangara 1 August 200431 July 200620Vice Admiral Jagjit Singh Bedi 31 July 200628 July 200721Vice Admiral Sunil Kumar Damle 28 July 200731 August 200922Vice Admiral K. N. Sushil 1 September 200931 May 201223Vice Admiral Satish Soni 31 May 2012 2014Later served as FOC-in-C of the Eastern Naval Command24Vice Admiral Surinder Pal Singh Cheema 20142015Later served as FOC-in-C of the Western Naval Command25Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba 1 February 201631 May 2016Later served as Chief of Naval Staff and as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee26Vice Admiral Girish Luthra 1 June 201629 May 2016Later served as FOC-in-C of the Western Naval Command27Vice Admiral AR Karve 29 May 201630 July 201828Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla 30 July 201830 November 202129Vice Admiral M A Hampiholi 30 November 202131 December 202330Vice Admiral Vennam Srinivas 1 January 202431 October 202531Vice Admiral Sameer Saxena 1 November 2025Present
See also Western Naval Command Eastern Naval Command
References