Commander of the Navy (Sri Lanka)

Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy
ශ්‍රී ලංකා නාවික හමුදාපති
since 19 December 2022
 Sri Lanka Navy
AbbreviationCofN
Member ofNational Security Council
Reports toMinistry of Defence
Chief of the Defence Staff
SeatNaval Headquarters, SLNS Parakrama, Flagstaff street, Colombo 1
AppointerThe President
Term lengthNot fixed
Constituting instrumentNavy Act (Chapter 358)
Formation1 February 1938; 86 years ago (1938-02-01)
as Commander of the Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force
First holderCaptain W. G. Beauchamp
(as Commander CNVF)
DeputyChief of Staff of the Navy
Sri Lanka Navy
Components
History
Ships
Leadership and ranks

The Commander of the Navy is the professional head of the Sri Lanka Navy. The current Commander of the Navy is Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera. It is a position equivalent to that of First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy or Chief of Naval Operations in the United States Navy.

By convention, serving Navy commanders have a rank of vice admiral, and will be promoted to the rank of admiral on retirement or if appointed as Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

History

The post of Captain of the Navy was created through the Navy Act of 9 December 1950, which also established the Royal Ceylon Navy.[1]

In 1972, the "Dominion of Ceylon" became the "Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka" and the Royal Ceylon Navy was renamed the Sri Lanka Navy. The title "Captain of the Navy" was changed to "Commander of the Navy" through the Navy (Amendment) Law, No. 33 of 1976[2] in keeping with the terminology adopted by the other two services.

Official Residence

The official residences of the Commander of the Navy is the Navy House in Colombo, formerly the Navy House in Trincomalee.

List of Commanders (including Commanders of the Royal Ceylon Navy)

No. Portrait Rank Name Appointment Left Office Decorations
Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force (1938–1950)
1 Captain W. G. Beauchamp 1 February 1938 31 March 1946 CBE, VRD
2 Rear Admiral Royce de Mel 1946 1950 OBE
Royal Ceylon Navy (1950–1972)
1 Captain W. E. Banks 9 December 1950 25 November 1951 CBE, DSC
2 Captain J. R. S. Brown 26 November 1951 14 June 1953
3 Captain P. M. B. Chavasse 15 June 1953 7 November 1955 DSC
4 Rear Admiral Royce de Mel 15 August 1955 15 November 1960 OBE, ADC
5 Rear Admiral Rajan Kadiragamar 16 November 1960 1 July 1970 MVO, ADC
6 Rear Admiral D. V. Hunter 2 July 1970 22 May 1972
Sri Lanka Navy (1972-present)
6 Rear Admiral D. V. Hunter 22 May 1972 31 March 1973
7 Admiral Deshamanya Basil Gunasekara 1 April 1973 31 May 1979
8 Admiral Henry Perera 1 June 1979 31 May 1983 VSV
9 Vice Admiral Asoka de Silva 1 June 1983 31 October 1986 VSV
10 Admiral H. A. Silva 1 November 1986 31 October 1991 VSV
11 Admiral Clancy Fernando † 1 November 1991 16 November 1992 VSV, USP
12 Admiral D. A. M. R. Samarasekara 16 November 1992 27 November 1997 VSV, USP
13 Admiral H. C. A. C. Thisera 28 January 1997 31 December 2000 VSV, USP
14 Admiral Daya Sandagiri 1 January 2001 31 August 2005 VSV, USP
15 Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda 1 September 2005 15 July 2009 RSP, VSV, USP
16 Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe 15 July 2009 15 January 2011 RSP, VSV, USP
17 Admiral D. W. A. S. Dissanayake 15 January 2011 27 September 2012 WV, RSP & Bar, VSV, USP
18 Admiral Jayanath Colombage 27 September 2012 30 June 2014 RSP, VSV, USP
19 Admiral Jayantha Perera 1 July 2014 10 July 2015 RWP, VSV, USP
20 Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne 11 July 2015 21 August 2017 WV, RWP & Bar, RSP, VSV, USP
21 Admiral Travis Sinniah 22 August 2017 26 October 2017 WWV, RWP, RSP (x3), USP
22 Admiral Sirimevan Ranasinghe 26 October 2017 31 December 2018 WWV, RWP, USP
23 Admiral Piyal De Silva 1 January 2019 14 July 2020 WWV & Bar, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP
24 Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne 15 July 2020 18 Dec 2022 RSP & Bar, VSV, USP
25 Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera 19 Dec 2022 Present RSP **, USP, ndu, psc

See also

References

  1. ^ "Navy Act". Srilankalaw.lk. Blackhall Publishing. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Navy (Amendment) Law (No. 33 of 1976) - Sect 3". ComonLII.com. Commonwealth Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 25 August 2017.