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Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman | |
|---|---|
 Soman (left) withO.B. Sjaaf of theIndonesian Navy, 1960 | |
| 4thChief of the Naval Staff | |
| In office 4 June 1962 – 3 March 1966 | |
| President | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| Prime Minister | Jawaharlal Nehru Gulzarilal Nanda (Acting) Lal Bahadur Shastri Indira Gandhi |
| Preceded by | Ram Dass Katari |
| Succeeded by | Adhar Kumar Chatterji |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1913-03-13)13 March 1913 |
| Died | 8 February 1995(1995-02-08) (aged 81) Pune,Maharashtra, India |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  British India India |
| Branch/service |  Royal Indian Navy Indian Navy |
| Years of service | 1932–1966 |
| Rank |   Admiral |
| Commands | Indian Fleet Bombay Command Commodore-in-Charge Cochin |
| Battles/wars | World War II Annexation of Goa Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 |
AdmiralBhaskar Sadashiv Soman (30 March 1913 – 8 February 1995) was anIndian Navy Admiral. He was in command of theIndian Navy from 1962 to 1966 as the 4thChief of the Naval Staff (CNS).[1]
Soman was born inGwalior, the capital of theeponymous princely state. He received his early education at the Indian National Congress' Tilak Vidyalaya and at a school inSangli State.
He subsequently entered theRoyal Indian Marine (RIM), and following initial training on the training shipT/S Dufferin, was selected for officer training in the United Kingdom in 1932.[2] He was appointed asub-lieutenant in the RIM on 1 September 1934,[3] and was promoted tolieutenant on 1 September 1937.[4] DuringWorld War II, Soman was promoted to acting lieutenant-commander on 29 April 1944,[5] and to the permanent rank of lieutenant-commander on 1 September 1945.[6] During the war, he served in various shore establishments and in the service's Landing Craft Wing.[7]
Soman was promoted to the acting rank ofCommander in 1946 and was appointed Drafting Commander of the RIN, becoming the first Indian appointee to the post.[7] He was promoted to actingcaptain on 21 July 1947.[7] He was subsequently appointedChief of Personnel, followed by appointment as Chief of Administration (COA) at Naval HQ.[2] On 5 October 1949, he relinquished office, handing over to CaptainS. G. Karmarkar and took over as Senior Officer, RIN Frigate Flotilla, commanding HMISJumna.[8] He received promotion to the substantive rank ofCaptain on 31 December 1950.[9] After a two year tenure as Senior Officer of 12th Frigate flotilla, he was appointed Commanding Officer of theflagshipINS Delhi (C74). In 1952, he was appointed the first Indian Naval Officer-in-Charge (NOIC), Vishakapatnam, which oversaw the Boys' Training Establishment.[1] In January 1954, he was appointed Commodore-in-Charge, Cochin (COMCHIN),[10] with appointment as Commodore-in-Charge, Bombay, towards the end of 1956.
With the upgrading of the post, he was promoted toRear Admiral on 12 June 1958 and reappointed Flag Officer Commanding Bombay (FOB).[11] In April 1960, he took over asFlag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet (FOCIF), and was in charge of India's naval operations during the 1961Liberation of Goa.[2][1]
He was appointed CNS on 5 June 1962 taking over fromVice AdmiralRam Dass Katari, with the acting rank ofVice Admiral, and was confirmed in the substantive rank on 22 November.[12]
Soman retired from the Indian Navy on 22 November 1966, relinquishing the post of CNS as a Vice Admiral, then the highest attainable rank in the Navy.[13] In 1968, the post of CNS was upgraded to the rank offull admiral, and on 21 October 1980, Soman andRam Dass Katari, his predecessor as CNS, were promoted to the honorary rank of full Admiral on the retired list by PresidentNeelam Sanjiva Reddy.[14][15] Soman suffered a mild stroke in December 1994. In February 1995, he suffered a more serious stroke which led to his death at the age of 81.[16]
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chief of the Naval Staff 1962–1966 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet 1960–1962 | |
| New title Office created | Flag Officer Bombay 1958–1960 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commodore-in-Charge Bombay 1956–1958 | Office abolished |
| Preceded by A D H Jay | Commodore-in-Charge Cochin 1954–1956 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Geoffrey Gowlland | Naval Officer-in-Charge, Visakhapatnam 1951–1953 | Succeeded by Reginald Sawhney |
| New title Office created | Chief of Materiel 1949–1949 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by H R Inigo-Jones | Chief of Personnel 1947–1949 | Succeeded by |
| Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy (1947–1948) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Chief of the Naval Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy (1948-1950) | ||
| Chief of the Naval Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Indian Navy (1950-1955) | ||
| Chief of the Naval Staff (1955–present) |
| |
**Seconded from theRoyal Navy | ||
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