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 (FOC-in-C). Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan is the current FOC-in-C WNC, who took over on 30 May 2025.

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." 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, 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 (Flotillas), Indian Fleet,

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 the Two Star appointment of Flag Officer Bombay (FOB) 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 (FOC-in-C WNC). The Indian Fleet was renamed as Western Fleet with the Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF) reporting into the FOC-in-C WNC.

Area of responsibility 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 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 Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area (FOMA) 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 principal maintenance dockyards. The Carrier Battle Group of the Western Fleet consists of INS Vikramaditya (aircraft carrier), Vishakapatnam class & Kolkata class destroyers, Talwar class & Brahmaputra class frigates, Mahe class & Veer class corvettes and various types of Patrol vessels, Fast attack crafts and auxiliary ships, naval aviation is primarily provided by Mig 29K fighter jets, P-8I maritime patrol aircraft, while Kamov-31 and 27, Westland Sea-King along with MH-60R form the back of the helicopter fleet. In addition to that it is also the region for various docks and maintenance MRO facilities on the Western and Southern Indian coast.

Organization The Western Naval Command is organized as follows: PostCurrent HolderReferencesFlag Officer Commanding-in-ChiefVice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan, PVSM, AVSM, NMChief of StaffVice Admiral Rahul Vilas Gokhale, YSM, NMFlag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF)Rear Admiral Srinivas Maddula, VSMFlag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area (FOMA)Rear Admiral Vidhyadhar Harke, VSMFlag Officer Goa Area (FOGA) & Flag Officer Naval Aviation (FONA)Rear Admiral Ajay D. TheophilusFlag Officer Commanding Gujarat Naval Area (FOGNA)Rear Admiral Sritanu GuruFlag Officer Commanding Karnataka Naval Area (FOK)Rear Admiral Vikram Menon, VSMFlag Officer Defence Advisory Group (FODAG)Rear Admiral Rahul Shankar, NMAdmiral Superintendent Dockyard (ASD) - MumbaiRear Admiral Ajay PatneyCommodore Commanding Submarines (West)Commodore Sumeet Singh Sodhi

Naval bases Naval bases under Western Naval Command are the following BaseCity State/TerritoryRole INS DwarkaOkha GujaratLogistics and Maintenance supportINS Sardar PatelPorbandarLogistics Support INS KadambaKarwar KarnatakaLogistics and Maintenance supportINS VajrakoshNaval ammunition and missile depotINHS PatanjaliNaval HospitalINS GomantakVasco da gamaGoaLogistics and Maintenance supportINS HansaDabolimNaval Air StationINHS JeevantiVasco-da-gamaNaval HospitalINS AngreMumbaiMaharashtraLogistics and Administrative supportINS AbhimanyuMARCOS baseINHS SandhaniNaval Hospital INS AgnibahuMissile boat squadron baseINHS AsviniNaval HospitalINS KunjaliNaval Air StationINS ShikraNaval Air StationNH PowaiNaval Hospital INS TanajiNaval ammunition depotINS TrataCoastal Missile DefenseINS TunirNaval missile depotINS VajrabahuSubmarine base

List of Commanders S.No Name Assumed office Left office Notes ReferencesCommodore-in-Charge Bombay (COMBAY)1Commodore Henry Richmond Inigo-Jones 15 August 194731 December 1950Formerly Royal Indian Navy.2Commodore R. M. T. Taylor31 December 1950March 1954Seconded from the Royal Navy3Commodore Ajitendu Chakraverti28 March 195417 November 1954First Indian to hold the appointment.4Commodore Adhar Kumar Chatterji18 November 195426 November 1956Later served as Chief of the Naval Staff.5Commodore Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman27 November 195612 June 1958Later served as Chief of the Naval Staff.Flag Officer Bombay (FOB)1Rear Admiral Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman12 June 195815 April 1960Later Chief of the Naval Staff.2Rear Admiral S. G. Karmarkar 22 April 196015 June 19643Rear Admiral R. S. David16 June 196415 February 19684Rear Admiral Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda 16 February 196828 February 1968Later Chief of the Naval Staff.Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command (FOC-in-C WNC)1Vice Admiral Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda 1 March 196828 February 1970Later served as Chief of Naval Staff2Vice Admiral Nilakanta Krishnan 28 February 197024 February 19713Vice Admiral Sourendra Nath Kohli 25 February 197126 February 1973Later served as Chief of Naval Staff4Vice Admiral Jal Cursetji 27 February 197328 February 1976Later served as Chief of Naval Staff5Vice Admiral Ronald Lynsdale Pereira 28 February 197620 March 1977Later served as Chief of Naval Staff6Vice Admiral Rustom K. S. Ghandhi 21 March 197730 March 19797Vice Admiral V. E. C. Barboza 31 March 197931 January 19818Vice Admiral Manohar Prahlad Awati 1 February 198130 March 19839Vice Admiral Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani 31 March 198330 April 1984Later served as Chief of Naval Staff10Vice Admiral Subimal Mookerjee 1 May 198427 February 198611Vice Admiral Sukhmal Jain 28 February 198631 December 199012Vice Admiral H. Johnson 1 January 199131 August 199213Vice Admiral KASZ Raju 31 August 199231 December 199414Vice Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat 1 January 199530 September 1996Later served as Chief of Naval Staff.15Vice Admiral Avnish Rai Tandon, 24 October 199631 March 199816Vice Admiral Madhvendra Singh 1 April 199831 March 2001Later served as Chief of Naval Staff, and as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee17Vice Admiral Vinod Pasricha 1 April 200131 December 200218Vice Admiral Arun Prakash 1 January 200315 October 2003Later served as Chief of Naval Staff, and as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee19Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh 16 October 200328 February 200620Vice Admiral Sangram Singh Byce 1 March 200631 July 200721Vice Admiral Jagjit Singh Bedi 1 August 200730 April 200922Vice Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin 1 May 200930 April 201123Vice Admiral D. K. Joshi 1 May 201131 August 2012Later served as Chief of Naval Staff. Current Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.24Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha 1 September 201223 April 2, 2014Retired from the Navy after being superseded.25Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chopra 1 June 201431 March 201526Vice Admiral S. P. S. Cheema 1 April 201531 January 2016Also headed the Strategic Forces Command and the Southern Naval Command, apart from serving as the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff.26Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba 1 February 201631 May 2016Later served as Chief of Naval Staff, and as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee27Vice Admiral Girish Luthra 1 June 201631 January 201928Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar P 1 February 201928 February 202129Vice Admiral R. Hari Kumar 28 February 202129 November 2021Later served as Chief of Naval Staff 30Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh 30 November 202128 February 202331Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi 1 March 20231 January 2024Later Chief of the Naval Staff32Vice Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh 2 January 202431 July 2025First Naval recipient of Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal. Awarded during Operation Sindoor.33Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan 1 August 202530 May 2026Current Chief of the Naval Staff34Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan 30 May 2026PresentCurrent FOC-in-C

See also Eastern Naval Command Southern Naval Command

References