Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani,

PVSM Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (IAST: ) is a military award of India. It was constituted in 1960 and since then it is awarded in recognition to peace-time service of the most exceptional order and may be awarded posthumously. All ranks of the ...

AVSM Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) is a military award of India given to recognize "distinguished service of an exceptional order" to all ranks of the armed forces. The award is a peacetime equivalent of Uttam Yuddh Seva Medal, which is a Wartime Dis ...

(12 May 1930 – 14 October 2015) was a Flag officer in the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

. He served as the 12th Chief of the Naval Staff from 1 December 1984 until 30 November 1987. His prior commands included those as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-IN-C) of the

Western Naval Command 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 A ...

, FOC-IN-C of the

Southern Naval Command The Southern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It has its headquarters in Kochi, Kerala at INS Venduruthy. It is the Training Command of the Indian Navy. The Command is commanded by a Three Star Fla ...

and

Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF) is the title of the Indian Navy Officer who commands the Western Fleet, headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The FOCWF is a two star admiral holding the rank of Rear Admiral. The appointment is conside ...

(FOCWF). A

carrier-based aircraft Carrier-based aircraft, sometimes known as carrier-capable aircraft or carrier-borne aircraft, are naval aircraft designed for operations from aircraft carriers. They must be able to launch in a short distance and be sturdy enough to withstand ...

pilot, he also served as the commanding officer of the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

, . After retirement, Tahiliani served as the

Governor of Sikkim The governor of Sikkim is the head of state of the Indian state of Sikkim. The governor is the representative of the president of India in the state and is the nominal head of the state's executive power. This is a list of the governors of S ...

from 1990 to 1994. He was a founder member and chairman of the India chapter of

Transparency International Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil ...

(TI). He also served on the board of TI.

Naval career

Tahiliani was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 1 September 1950, and was confirmed as a sub-lieutenant on 17 May 1952. He joined the

Indian Naval Air Arm The Indian Naval Air Arm is the aviation branch and a fighting arm of the Indian Navy which is tasked to provide an aircraft carrier based strike capability, fleet air defence, maritime reconnaissance, and anti-submarine warfare. The Flag Off ...

and qualified as a pilot for

. He was a graduate of the

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associat ...

, United States and the National Defence College, New Delhi. He also qualified as a

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...

. Promoted to lieutenant-commander on 16 July 1960, he was the first naval pilot to land an aircraft on the deck of , when he landed his

Hawker Sea Hawk The Hawker Sea Hawk is a British single-seat jet day fighter formerly of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the air branch of the Royal Navy (RN), built by Hawker Aircraft and its sister company, Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. Although its design origina ...

fighter on 18 May 1961. He served as a carrier-based strike pilot on board ''INS Vikrant''; following his promotion to captain on 31 December 1970, he commanded its carrier borne squadron during the

Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decemb ...

. Later, he served as the commanding officer of and ''INS Vikrant''.

Flag rank

Promoted to acting

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

on 30 December 1977, he was appointed Flag Officer, Goa Area (FOGA), with promotion to substantive rear admiral on 1 February 1978. Later, he was appointed the Flag Officer Commanding

Western Fleet The Red Sea Fleet Command or officially Western Fleet (WF), also called ''" West Coast Fleet ",'' is a regional naval fleet and one of the two main formations of the Saudi Arabian Navy, with headquarters at Royal Naval Base at Jeddah, Western Pr ...

(FOCWF). His next appointment was as Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (ACNS) at Naval Headquarters (NHQ). This was followed by appointment as the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (DCNS). He was promoted to Vice Admiral while in this office. In February 1982, then vice admiral, Tahiliani was appointed the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-IN-C)

. In March 1983, he was appointed the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief

. In May 1984, he was appointed the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (VCNS). On 1 December 1984, he took over as the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) of the Indian Navy. Tahiliani retired from the Indian Navy on 30 November 1987.

Later career

Admiral Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani with APJ Abdul Kala

Tahiliani served as the

between 8 February 1990 and 20 September 1994. He helped launch the India chapter of Transparency International as a founder member in 1997. He served as the chairman of the India chapter practically from its founding until 2010 and was chairperson of Balvantray Mehta Vidya Bhawan Anguridevi Shersingh, a senior secondary school located in the South District of

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Tahiliani was elected to the board of

in 2002.

Personal life

Tahiliani was married to Jaswanti Tahiliani. His wife was the first female engineer in Mumbai. He is the father of noted Indian

fashion designer Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

Tarun Tahiliani Tarun Tahiliani is a noted Indian fashion designer. With his wife Sailaja 'Sal' Tahiliani, he co-founded Ensemble, India’s first multi-designer boutique in 1987, followed by Tahiliani Design studio in 1990. Based in Delhi, he is best known for ...

, and executive director of Ensemble India, Tina Tahiliani Parikh. He died on 14 October 2015.

Awards and decorations

Admiral Tahiliani was awarded the

Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) is a military award of India given to recognize "distinguished service of an exceptional order" to all ranks of the armed forces. The award is a peacetime equivalent of Uttam Yuddh Seva Medal, which is a Wartime Dis ...

and the

Param Vishisht Seva Medal Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (IAST: ) is a military award of India. It was constituted in 1960 and since then it is awarded in recognition to peace-time service of the most exceptional order and may be awarded posthumously. All ranks of the ...

for his distinguished service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tahiliani, Radhakrishna Hariram 1930 births Chiefs of the Naval Staff (India) Vice Chiefs of Naval Staff (India) Deputy Chiefs of Naval Staff (India) Flag Officers Commanding Western Fleet Indian Navy admirals Governors of Sikkim 2015 deaths Sindhi people Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Indian naval aviators Naval War College alumni National Defence College, India alumni Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal