How the Indian Navy grew from the East India Company's 1612 marine force into a service run through three naval commands.
Swally, 1612, to the Royal Indian Navy
The Navy traces its origins to 5 September 1612, when the first squadron of fighting ships of the East India Company's marine force arrived on the Gujarat coast. Named the Honourable East India Company's Marine, it worked from Swally, near Surat, and protected Company trade in the Gulf of Cambay and the mouths of the Tapti and Narmada.
By 1686, with English commerce moving to Bombay, the force had become the Bombay Marine. Further changes of name followed through the nineteenth century.
It took the title Royal Indian Marine in 1892, by which time it had more than 50 vessels. In 1934 it was reorganised as the Royal Indian Navy, and in 1935 it received the King's Colour.
The Republic and the first Indian Chief
The prefix Royal was dropped on 26 January 1950, when India became a Republic, and ships took the prefix INS.
On 27 May 1951, President Rajendra Prasad presented the President's Colour to the Navy, the first of the three services to receive it. Vice Admiral R.D. Katari became the first Indian Chief of the Naval Staff on 22 April 1958.
Naval Headquarters and the three commands
The Navy is administered from Naval Headquarters in New Delhi under the Chief of the Naval Staff, an Admiral. Operationally it is organised into three commands, each under a Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief: Western at Mumbai, Eastern at Visakhapatnam and Southern at Kochi.
Western and Eastern are the operational commands, each with its own fleet. Southern has been the Training Command since 1 July 1986. The Navy also serves in the tri-service Andaman and Nicobar Command at Port Blair.
Two arms have their own flag officers: the Flag Officer Submarines and the Flag Officer Naval Aviation.
Admiral Krishna Swaminathan assumed charge as the 27th Chief of the Naval Staff on 31 May 2026, succeeding Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi.
Cover image: Indian Navy, GODL-India, via Wikimedia Commons. Resized for this page. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:INS_Vikrant_(R11)_and_INS_Vikramaditya_(R33)_during_exercise.jpg