Western Naval Command


The Western Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. As the senior-most of the three formations, the command is responsible for the all naval forces in the Arabian Sea and western parts of the Indian Ocean and the naval establishments on the west coast of India.
The Command was formed on 1 March 1968. The Command is commanded by a Three Star Flag Officer of the rank of Vice Admiral with the title Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Command. Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar P, PVSM, AVSM, VSM is the current FOC-in-C WNC, who took over on 31 January 2019.

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. Two new appointments were created, the Rear Admiral Commanding Indian Naval Squadron, the commander of the surface fleet of the Navy, and the Commodore-in-Charge Bombay, a one-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, Indian Fleet,
On 30 December 1957, the office of Flag Officer Commanding was re-designated Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet, while the command of the shore establishments was upgraded to the Two Star appointment of Flag Officer Bombay in June 1958. The FOCIF and FOB reported to the Chief of the Naval Staff. On 1 March 1968, the FOB was upgraded to the Three Star of Vice Admiral and was re-designated Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command. The Indian Fleet was renamed as Western Fleet with the Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet reporting into the FOC-in-C WNC.

Area of responsibility

The Western Naval Command 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 against Pakistan. The Western Fleet is the two-star level operational formation of the Western Naval Command. It utilises Mumbai and Karwar as its home ports, with INS Kunjali, its HQ in Mumbai.
The fleet at the WNC is based under Flag Officer Maharashtra Area and provides naval defence in the sensitive north Arabian Sea adjacent to Pakistan.
INS Kadamba, a large naval base, was constructed under Project Seabird and completed in 2005. This naval base, at Karwar in Karnataka, is used exclusively by the Indian Navy.

Capabilities

The Flagship carrier of the Western Fleet is INS Vikramaditya. The WNC is equipped with submarine pens, a carrier dock and main maintenance dockyards. The Carrier Battle Group of the Western Fleet consists of INS Vikramaditya, Delhi class destroyers, Talwar class frigates, Brahmaputra class frigates, INS Kolkata Indian navy's brand new destroyer and Sindhughosh class submarines. The Naval Aviation is provided by MiG-29K fighters along with airborne early warning Kamov Ka-31 Helicopters.
Full-fledged shipbuilding facilities on the western seaboard include the Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai, the Goa Shipyard Limited and the Cochin Shipyard Ltd in Kerala, which is India's largest repair dry dock.

Organization

The Western Naval Command is organized as follows:
PostCurrent HolderReferences
Flag Officer Commanding-in-ChiefVice Admiral Ajit Kumar, PVSM, AVSM, VSM
Chief of StaffVice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh, AVSM, VSM
Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet Rear Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh, NM
Flag Officer Maharashtra Naval AreaRear Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar, VSM
Flag Officer Goa Area Rear Admiral Philipose G Pynumootil
Commodore Commanding Submarines - West
Flag Officer Naval Aviation Rear Admiral Puneet Kumar Bahl
Flag Officer Offshore Defence Advisory Group Rear Admiral Deepak Bali
Flag Officer Karnataka Naval Area Rear Admiral Mahesh Singh, NM
Admiral Superintendent Dockyard - MumbaiRear Admiral Sandeep Naithani, VSM
Naval Officer In-Charge - Maharashtra
Naval Officer In-Charge - GujaratRead Admiral S Beecha
Naval Officer In-Charge - Karnataka
Naval Officer In-Charge - Goa

Naval bases

Naval bases under Western Naval Command are the following
BaseCityState/TerritoryRole
INS DwarkaOkhaGujaratLogistics and Maintenance support
INS Sardar PatelPorbandarGujaratLogistics Support
INS KadambaKarwarKarnatakaLogistics and Maintenance support
INS VajrakoshKarwarKarnatakaNaval ammunition and missile depot
INHS PatanjaliKarwarKarnatakaNaval Hospital
INS GomantakVasco da gamaGoaLogistics and Maintenance support
INS HansaDabolimGoaNaval Air Station
INHS JeevantiVasco-da-gamaGoaNaval Hospital
INS AngreMumbaiMaharashtraLogistics and Administrative support
INS AbhimanyuMumbaiMaharashtraMARCOS base
INS AgnibahuMumbaiMaharashtraMissile boat squadron base
INHS AsviniMumbaiMaharashtraNaval Hospital
INS KunjaiMumbaiMaharashtraNaval Air Station
INS ShikraMumbaiMaharashtraNaval Air Station
INS TanajiMumbaiMaharashtraNaval ammunition depot
INS TrataMumbaiMaharashtraCoastal Missile Defense
INS TunirMumbaiMaharashtraNaval missile depot
INS VajrabahuMumbaiMaharashtraSubmarine base

List of Commanders