Admiral

Raden is a Japanese termRaden.

National Hero of Indonesia National Hero of Indonesia ( id, Pahlawan Nasional Indonesia) is the highest-level title awarded in Indonesia. It is posthumously given by the Government of Indonesia for actions which are deemed to be heroic, defined as "actual deeds which can b ...

posthumously in 1966. He is recognized as one of the founders of the

Indonesian Navy The Indonesian Navy ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Laut, , Indonesian National Military-Naval Force, TNI-AL) is the naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol ...

Biography

Martadinata was born in Bandung,

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

, on 29 March 1921. His father was Raden Ruhiyat Martadinata and his mother was Nyi Raden Suhaemi. He completed his education through

senior high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, first in Bandung then in

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

(now Jakarta). After graduating high school he enrolled in a Dutch-run school for sailors in 1941, but following the Japanese occupation the following year the school was closed. He later continued, under Japanese tutelage, and by 1944 was working as an assistant teacher. Sukarno proclaimed Indonesia's independence in 1945, and in late August he established the People's Security Body (, or BKR). Martadinata and other naval trainees began efforts to establish a naval branch of the BKR, which eventually became the

. During the National Revolution (1945–1949) Martadinata saw several leadership positions, including as Operating Staff Chief in

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

and Chief of Staff at the base in Surabaya. After the Dutch recognized Indonesian independence in 1949, Martadinata remained with the Navy. He oversaw naval operations in South Sulawesi in 1950, when the national government was dealing with the

Makassar uprising The Makassar Uprising, also known as Andi Aziz rebellion, was a skirmish in Makassar, Sulawesi, between former Royal Dutch East Indies Army soldiers under Captain Andi Aziz and the Republic of the United States of Indonesia government. The ...

. In 1953 he was sent to study in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. After his return to Indonesia he supervised the purchase of various ships for the Navy. After a period of infighting in the late 1950s, Martadinata replaced Subiyakto as

Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy The Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy ( id, Kepala Staf TNI Angkatan Laut, abbreviated KSAL or KASAL) is the highest position in the Indonesian Navy. The position is held by the four-star Admiral or Marine General, appointed by and reporting ...

, leaving him in charge of the service branch; the infighting quelled soon after. Martadinata rose through the ranks, reaching vice admiral by 1960. The

30 September Movement The Thirtieth of September Movement ( id, Gerakan 30 September, abbreviated as G30S, also known by the acronym Gestapu for ''Gerakan September Tiga Puluh'', Thirtieth of September Movement) was a self-proclaimed organization of Indonesian Na ...

in 1965, an unsuccessful coup attempt which the government blamed on the Communist Party of Indonesia, led to massive changes in the country. At a funeral for Irma, a daughter of Abdul Haris Nasution who had been killed in the coup, Martadinata indicated a wish to purge the communists; this and similar communist purges led to deaths of thousands, although the total number of victims is uncertain. In February 1966 Martadinata left the Navy as he perceived the government to be unwilling to deal with communists. He was reassigned as Indonesia's ambassador to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. For the 21st anniversary of the

Indonesian Armed Forces , founded = as the ('People's Security Forces') , current_form = , disbanded = , branches = , headquarters = Cilangkap, Jakarta , website = , commander-in-chief = Joko Widodo , ...

on 5 October 1966, Martadinata returned to the country with some Pakistani guests. The day after the ceremony, Martadinata and his guests were flying in an

Aérospatiale Alouette II The Aérospatiale Alouette II (, " lark"; company designations SE 313 and SA 318) is a French light helicopter originally manufactured by Sud Aviation and later Aérospatiale. It was the first production helicopter powered by a gas turbine ...

helicopter when the pilot crashed into Mount Riung Gunung at Puncak Pass. After his body was recovered, Martadinata was buried in Kalibata Heroes' Cemetery in Jakarta. A monument with an Alouette II helicopter was later built at the crash site. Since then he has been the namesake for various items, including streets, a building at the Navy Command and Staff College and two warships ( and ). Martadinata was awarded the title of

on 7 October 1966, based on Presidential Decree No. 220 of 1966.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martadinata, Eddy 1921 births 1966 deaths Sundanese people People from Bandung National Heroes of Indonesia Indonesian admirals Ambassadors of Indonesia to Pakistan Chiefs of Staff of the Indonesian Navy Victims of helicopter accidents or incidents