Eastern Naval Command
Crest of the Eastern Naval Command
Active	1983
Country	India
Branch	Indian Navy
Type	Command
Headquarters	Visakhapatnam,Andhra Pradesh
Commanders
FOC-in-C	Vice AdmiralRajesh Pendharkar,AVSM,VSM
FOCEastern Fleet	Rear AdmiralSusheel Menon,VSM

TheEastern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of theIndian Navy.^[1] It is headquartered inVisakhapatnam,Andhra Pradesh.^[2] The command is responsible for the all naval forces in theBay of Bengal and parts of theIndian Ocean and the naval establishments on the east coast of India.

The Command was established in 1983.^[3] The Command is commanded by aThree Star Flag Officer of the rank of Vice Admiral with the title Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command (FOC-in-C).Vice AdmiralRajesh Pendharkar is the current FOC-in-C ENC, who took over on 1 August 2023.

After theindependence and thepartition of India on 15 August 1947, the ships and personnel of theRoyal Indian Navy were divided between theDominion of India and theDominion of Pakistan. The division of the ships was on the basis of two-thirds of the fleet to India, one third to Pakistan.^[4]

The Surface Fleet of the Navy was called Indian Fleet and was commanded by the Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet (FOCIF). Initially, the shore establishments on the eastern coast were headed by a captain in the appointment of Naval Officer-in-Charge, Vishakapatnam (NOIC).^[5] This was subsequently upgraded to the appointment of Commodore East (COMEAST), aOne Star appointment. The FOCIF and COMEAST reported into theChief of the Naval Staff. In July 1967, COMEAST was upgraded to thetwo-star appointment of Flag Officer, East Coast (FOEC).^[6] On 1 March 1968, the Eastern Fleet was also created. With this, the appointment of FOEC was re-designated Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command (FOC-in-C ENC). The Indian Fleet was split between theWestern Fleet and theEastern Fleet with the Fleet Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF) reporting into the FOC-in-C ENC.^[7] On 1 March 1971,Vice AdmiralNilakanta Krishnan took over as FOC-in-C, the first three-star officer to lead the command.^[8]

The oldest naval establishment of the Eastern Seaboard was theINS Circars,Visakhapatnam, which was identified as "an important convoy assembly point" for theRoyal Indian Navy flotillas. A small Naval Base was established there on 12 December 1939 and the base was designated as HMIS Circars on 12 April 1942.^[9] Now, the base is the base depot ship of the Eastern Naval Command. It is the logistics and administrative support establishment of the Command, supporting all ships and units based in Visakhapatnam. As of 2018, the establishment supports 52 additional units with strength of 2,300 sailors and 400 officers, besides accommodating inliving sailors of Circars.^[10]

Under the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command (FOC-in-C East) is theFlag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF),Commodore Commanding Submarines (East) (COMCOS (E)), Admiral Superintendent Dockyard forVisakhapatnam, shore establishments, and five Naval Officers-in-Charge (NOICs).

The Eastern naval Command has the states ofAndhra Pradesh,Odisha andTamil Nadu etc., under its area of responsibility.^[11]

The FOC-in-C (East) is the submarine operating authority, under whom COMCOS (E) operates. The 11th (Sindhughosh class submarine) and 8th (Foxtrot class) Submarine Squadrons operate under COMCOS (E).INSVirbahu, a submarine base commissioned on 19 May 1971, is the alma mater of the Indian Navy submariners.

The Eastern Naval Command is organized as follows:^[12]

The headquarters inVisakhapatnam, is also a strategically important dockyard for two nuclear-powered submarines of theArihant-class submarine. Due to congestion and heavy shipping traffic, a new 20 square km baseINS Varsha is being developed for exclusive naval use about 50 km south of Visakhapatnam.

The Eastern Navy fleet is distributed among its bases atParadip,Tuticorin,Kakinada andChennai on the east coast, and in theAndaman and Nicobar Islands.^[11] The Navy has opened its latest naval air base,INS Baaz, at the southernmost tip of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to secure the strategically importantStraits of Malacca, and another naval air station in Kolkata to base an unmanned aerial vehicle squadron.^[20][21]

In 2005, Eastern Naval Command was home to 30 warships.INSJalashwa is the flagship of Eastern Fleet and provides amphibious capabilities to theIndian Navy in theBay of Bengal. Eastern Fleet is equipped with submarine pens and maintenance dockyards. The Amphibious Task Group of Eastern Naval Fleet has INSJalashwa (LPD). It also includes fiveRajput-class destroyers, fourKora-class corvettes, threeGodavari-class frigates, threeShivalik-class frigates,Sindhughosh-class submarines and theAkula-classsubmarineINSChakra. Naval aviation is provided byWestland Sea King helicopters. Apart from these, a number of smaller vessels such asfast attack craft made the total fleet strength of the command 52 vessels in 2012.

Until 1997,INS Vikrant (1961) was the flagship of Eastern Fleet. After her de-commissioning in 1997, the Eastern Fleet has been without anaircraft carrier.^[20][24] Its aircraft carrier capability will get restored after first indigenously built aircraft carrierINS Vikrant (2013) joins the Eastern Fleet by 2023 after completing extensive sea trials and is likely to based inVishakapatnam.^[25][26]

• Southern Naval Command
• Western Naval Command

Media related toEastern Naval Command at Wikimedia Commons

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• Commands of the Indian Navy
• Military units and formations established in 1983

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