| Western Naval Command | |
|---|---|
Crest of the Western Naval Command | |
| Country | |
| Branch | |
| Type | Command |
| Headquarters | Mumbai,Maharashtra |
| Commanders | |
| FOC-in-C | Vice AdmiralKrishna Swaminathan,AVSM,VSM |
| Chief of Staff | Vice AdmiralRahul Vilas Gokhale,YSM,NM |
| FOCWF | Rear AdmiralVivek Dahiya,NM |
TheWestern Naval Command is one of the three command–levelformations of theIndian Navy.[1] It is headquartered inMumbai,Maharashtra. As the senior–most of the three formations,[2] the command is responsible for the all naval forces in theArabian Sea and western parts of theIndian Ocean and the naval establishments on the west coast of India.
The Command was formed on 1 March 1968.[3] The Command is commanded by aThree Star Flag Officer of the rank of Vice Admiral with the title Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Command (FOC-in-C).Vice AdmiralKrishna Swaminathan is the current FOC-in-C WNC, who took over on 1 August 2025.
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] Two new appointments were created, the Rear Admiral Commanding Indian Naval Squadron (RACINS), the commander of the surface fleet of the Navy, and the Commodore-in-Charge Bombay, aone-star officer who headed the shore establishments on the western coast. To bring the service more in line with other navies, on 1 May 1952 the Rear Admiral Commanding Indian Naval Squadron was re-designated Flag Officer Commanding (Flotillas), Indian Fleet,[5]
On 30 December 1957, the office of Flag Officer Commanding (Flotillas) was re-designated Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet (FOCIF), while the command of the shore establishments was upgraded to theTwo Star appointment of Flag Officer Bombay (FOB) in June 1958.[6] The FOCIF and FOB reported to theChief of the Naval Staff. On 1 March 1968, the FOB was upgraded to theThree Star ofVice Admiral and was re-designated Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command (FOC-in-C WNC). The Indian Fleet was renamed asWestern Fleet with theFlag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF) reporting into the FOC-in-C WNC.[7][2]
The Western Naval Command (WNC) is the sword arm of the Indian Navy and naval operations conducted on the western seaboard would be central to the outcome of any conflict at sea againstPakistan. TheWestern Fleet is the two-star level operational formation of the Western Naval Command. It utilisesMumbai andKarwar as its home ports, with INS Kunjali, its HQ inMumbai.The fleet at the WNC is based underFlag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area (FOMA) and provides naval defence in the sensitive northArabian Sea adjacent to Pakistan.INSKadamba, a large naval base, was constructed under Project Seabird and completed in 2005. Thisnaval base, atKarwar inKarnataka, is used exclusively by the Indian Navy.[1]

The Flagship carrier of theWestern Fleet is INSVikramaditya. The WNC is equipped with submarine pens, a carrier dock and main maintenance dockyards. The Carrier Battle Group of the Western Fleet consists ofINSVikramaditya,Delhi class destroyers,Talwar class frigates,Brahmaputra class frigates,INS Kolkata, Indian navy's one of the most powerful destroyer[8] andSindhughosh class submarines. The Naval Aviation is provided byMiG-29K fighters along with airborne early warningKamov Ka-31 Helicopters.
Full-fledged shipbuilding facilities on the western seaboard include theMazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai, theGoa Shipyard Limited and theCochin Shipyard Ltd inKerala, which is India's largest repair dry dock.
The Western Naval Command is organized as follows:[9]
| Post | Current Holder | References |
|---|---|---|
| Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief | Vice AdmiralKrishna Swaminathan, AVSM, NM | [10] |
| Chief of Staff | Vice AdmiralRahul Vilas Gokhale, YSM, NM | [11] |
| Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF) | Rear AdmiralVivek Dahiya, NM | [12] |
| Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area (FOMA) | Rear AdmiralShantanu Jha, NM | [13] |
| Flag Officer Goa Area (FOGA) &Flag Officer Naval Aviation (FONA) | Rear AdmiralAjay D. Theophilus | [14] |
| Flag Officer Commanding Gujarat Naval Area (FOGNA) | Rear Admiral Sritanu Guru | [15] |
|-|Flag Officer Commanding Karnataka Naval Area (FOK)|Rear AdmiralVikram Menon,VSM|[16]|-|Flag Officer Defence Advisory Group (FODAG)|||-|Admiral Superintendent Dockyard (ASD) - Mumbai|Rear Admiral Deepak Kumar Goswami, AVSM|[17]|-|Commodore Commanding Submarines (West)||Commodore Anurag Srivastava|[18]|}
Naval bases under Western Naval Command are the following[19]
| Base | City | State/Territory | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| INS Dwarka | Okha | Gujarat | Logistics and Maintenance support |
| INS Sardar Patel[20] | Porbandar | Logistics Support | |
| INS Kadamba | Karwar | Karnataka | Logistics and Maintenance support |
| INS Vajrakosh | Naval ammunition and missile depot | ||
| INHS Patanjali | Naval Hospital | ||
| INS Gomantak | Vasco da gama | Goa | Logistics and Maintenance support |
| INS Hansa | Dabolim | Naval Air Station | |
| INHS Jeevanti | Vasco-da-gama | Naval Hospital | |
| INS Angre | Mumbai | Maharashtra | Logistics and Administrative support |
| INS Abhimanyu | MARCOS base | ||
| INHS Sandhani | Naval Hospital | ||
| INS Agnibahu | Missile boat squadron base | ||
| INHS Asvini | Naval Hospital | ||
| INS Kunjali | Naval Air Station | ||
| INS Shikra | Naval Air Station | ||
| NH Powai | Naval Hospital | ||
| INS Tanaji | Naval ammunition depot | ||
| INS Trata | Coastal Missile Defense | ||
| INS Tunir | Naval missile depot | ||
| INS Vajrabahu | Submarine base |
| S.No | Name | Assumed office | Left office | Notes | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commodore-in-Charge Bombay (COMBAY) | |||||
| 1 | Commodore Henry Richmond Inigo-Jones | 15 August 1947 | 31 December 1950 | FormerlyRoyal Indian Navy. | [21] |
| 2 | Commodore R. M. T. Taylor | 31 December 1950 | March 1954 | Seconded from theRoyal Navy | [22] |
| 3 | CommodoreAjitendu Chakraverti | March 1954 | 16 November 1954 | First Indian to hold the appointment. | [23] |
| 4 | CommodoreAdhar Kumar Chatterji | 17 November 1954 | November 1956 | Later served as Chief of the Naval Staff. | [24] |
| 5 | CommodoreBhaskar Sadashiv Soman | November 1956 | 12 June 1958 | Later served as Chief of the Naval Staff. | [25][6] |
| Flag Officer Bombay (FOB) | |||||
| 1 | Rear Admiral Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman | 12 June 1958 | April 1960 | Later Chief of the Naval Staff. | [26] |
| 2 | Rear AdmiralS. G. KarmarkarMBE | June 1960 | June 1964 | [27][28] | |
| 3 | Rear Admiral R. S. David | June 1964 | 15 February 1968 | [29][30] | |
| 4 | Rear AdmiralSardarilal Mathradas NandaPVSM, AVSM | 16 February 1968 | 1 March 1968 | Later Chief of the Naval Staff. | [29] |
| Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command (FOC-in-C WNC) | |||||
| 1 | Vice Admiral Sardarilal Mathradas NandaPVSM, AVSM | 1 March 1968 | 28 February 1970 | Later served as Chief of Naval Staff | [31][32] |
| 2 | Vice AdmiralNilakanta KrishnanPVSM,DSC | 28 February 1970 | 12 February 1971 | [33] | |
| 3 | Vice AdmiralSourendra Nath KohliPVSM | 12 February 1971 | 27 February 1973 | Later served as Chief of Naval Staff | [34] |
| 4 | Vice AdmiralJal CursetjiPVSM | 27 February 1973 | 28 February 1976 | Later served as Chief of Naval Staff | [35][36] |
| 5 | Vice AdmiralRonald Lynsdale PereiraPVSM, AVSM | 28 February 1976 | 5 April 1977 | Later served as Chief of Naval Staff | [37][38] |
| 6 | Vice AdmiralRustom K. S. GhandhiPVSM, VrC | April 1977 | 3 March 1979 | [39] | |
| 7 | Vice AdmiralV. E. C. BarbozaPVSM,AVSM* | 3 March 1979 | March 1981 | [40] | |
| 8 | Vice AdmiralManohar Prahlad AwatiPVSM, VrC | March 1981 | 30 March 1983 | [41][42][43] | |
| 9 | Vice AdmiralRadhakrishna Hariram TahilianiPVSM, AVSM | 31 March 1983 | 30 April 1984 | Later served as Chief of Naval Staff | [44] |
| 10 | Vice Admiral Subimal MookerjeePVSM | 30 April 1984 | 28 February 1986 | [45][46] | |
| 11 | Vice Admiral Sukhmal JainPVSM, AVSM | 28 February 1986 | 31 December 1990 | [47][48] | |
| 12 | Vice Admiral H. JohnsonPVSM, VSM | 1 January 1991 | 31 August 1992 | [49] | |
| 13 | Vice AdmiralKASZ RajuPVSM, AVSM, NM | 31 August 1992 | 31 December 1994 | [50] | |
| 14 | Vice AdmiralVishnu BhagwatPVSM, AVSM | 31 December 1994 | 30 September 1996 | Later served as Chief of Naval Staff. | [51][52] |
| 15 | Vice Admiral Kailash K. KohliPVSM, AVSM | 20 October 1996 | 31 March 1998 | [48] | |
| 16 | Vice AdmiralMadhvendra SinghPVSM, AVSM | 1 April 1998 | 31 March 2001 | Later served as Chief of Naval Staff, and asChairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee | [53][54] |
| 17 | Vice Admiral Vinod PasrichaPVSM, AVSM, NM | 1 April 2001 | 31 December 2002 | [55] | |
| 18 | Vice AdmiralArun PrakashPVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM | 1 January 2003 | 30 September 2003 | Later served as Chief of Naval Staff, and as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee | [56][57] |
| 19 | Vice Admiral Madanjit SinghPVSM, AVSM | 1 October 2003 | 28 February 2006 | [58][59] | |
| 20 | Vice Admiral Sangram Singh BycePVSM, AVSM, NM | 1 March 2006 | 31 July 2007 | [60][58] | |
| 21 | Vice AdmiralJagjit Singh BediPVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSM | 1 August 2007 | 30 April 2009 | [61][62] | |
| 22 | Vice AdmiralSanjeev BhasinPVSM, AVSM, VSM | 1 May 2009 | 30 April 2012 | [63] | |
| 23 | Vice AdmiralD. K. JoshiPVSM, AVSM, YSM, NM, VSM | 1 May 2012 | 31 August 2012 | Later served as Chief of Naval Staff. CurrentLieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. | [64] |
| 24 | Vice AdmiralShekhar SinhaPVSM,AVSM,NM* | 1 September 2012 | 31 May 2014 | Retired from the Navy after being superseded. | [65] |
| 25 | Vice AdmiralAnil Kumar ChopraPVSM, AVSM | 1 June 2014 | 31 March 2015 | [66] | |
| 26 | Vice AdmiralS. P. S. CheemaPVSM, AVSM, NM | 1 April 2015 | 31 January 2016 | Also headed theStrategic Forces Command and theSouthern Naval Command, apart from serving as theChief of Integrated Defence Staff. | [67][68] |
| 26 | Vice AdmiralSunil LanbaPVSM, AVSM | 1 February 2016 | 31 May 2016 | Later served as Chief of Naval Staff, and as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee | [69] |
| 27 | Vice AdmiralGirish LuthraPVSM, AVSM, VSM | 1 June 2016 | 31 January 2019 | [70][71] | |
| 28 | Vice AdmiralAjit Kumar PPVSM, AVSM, VSM | 1 February 2019 | 28 February 2021 | [72] | |
| 29 | Vice AdmiralR. Hari KumarPVSM, AVSM, VSM | 28 February 2021 | 29 November 2021 | Later served as Chief of Naval Staff | [73] |
| 30 | Vice AdmiralAjendra Bahadur SinghPVSM, AVSM, VSM | 30 November 2021 | 28 February 2023 | [74] | |
| 31 | Vice AdmiralDinesh K TripathiPVSM, AVSM, NM | 1 March 2023 | 3 January 2024 | CurrentChief of the Naval Staff | [75] |
| 32 | Vice AdmiralSanjay Jasjit SinghSYSM, PVSM, AVSM, NM | 3 January 2024 | 31 July 2025 | First Naval recipient ofSarvottam Yudh Seva Medal. Awarded duringOperation Sindoor. | [76] |
| 33 | Vice AdmiralKrishna SwaminathanAVSM, VSM | 1 August 2025 | Present | Current FOCinC.[77] | |