The Navy's seniormost command, named on 1 March 1968 with headquarters at Bombay, ran the 1971 missile attacks on Karachi.
Bombay, 1 March 1968
A Press Information Bureau note dated 2 March 1968 announced that the seniormost naval command, with headquarters at Bombay, would now be called the Western Naval Command. The Flag Officer, Bombay, promoted Vice Admiral the day before, became its first Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief. That officer was Vice Admiral S.M. Nanda.
The same reorganisation changed the Flag Officer Commanding, Indian Fleet, into the Flag Officer Commanding, Western Fleet. The Navy dates the Western Fleet's formal constitution to that day. The Naval Dockyard, Bombay, was placed under a Rear Admiral, replacing a Commodore Superintendent.
Karachi, December 1971
Vice Admiral S.N. Kohli was Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief when war came in December 1971. His command carried out the missile attack on Karachi on the night of 4-5 December, Operation Trident, in which INS Nirghat, Nipat and Veer fired Styx missiles.
A second attack followed on the night of 8-9 December, when INS Vinash and two frigates fired four missiles. The Fleet Tanker Dacca was sunk and the Keamari oil installation was damaged. Indian forces reported no damage on either night.
Kohli handed over to Vice Admiral Jal Cursetji on 27 February 1973 and became Chief of the Naval Staff on 1 March.
Karwar and the Naval Dockyard
The command's reach extended south with INS Kadamba at Karwar, built under Project Seabird and commissioned on 31 May 2005.
The 22nd Missile Vessel Squadron, which descends from the boats of 1971, is based at Mumbai. President Ram Nath Kovind presented it with the President's Standard at the Naval Dockyard on 8 December 2021.
Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan assumed charge as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief at a ceremonial parade in Mumbai on 30 May 2026, then paid homage at the Gaurav Stambh in the Naval Dockyard.
Cover image: DesiBoy101, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Resized for this page. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Naval_Dockyard_Mumbai.jpg