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, ...

Sushil Kumar Isaac,

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 ...

UYSM Uttam Yudh Seva Medal (UYSM; ''Great War Service Medal'') is one of India's military decorations for Wartime Distinguished Service. It is awarded for a high degree of distinguished services in an operational context. "Operational context" includes ...

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 ...

, NM (died 27 November 2019) was an

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 ...

who served as Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy. A native of

Neyyoor Neyyoor is a town situated from mondaymarket. It is also a town panchayat of Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu. The nearest major town is Nagercoil . The nearest railway station is Eraniel Station.The main attraction of this area is the famo ...

(

Nagercoil Nagercoil, also spelt as Nagarkovil ("Temple of the Nāgas", or Nagaraja-Temple), is a city and the administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District in Tamil Nadu state, India. Situated close to the tip of the Indian peninsula, it lies on an ...

), he ceased to use his surname of Isaac because it caused confusion with his brother, who shares the same initials and is also a naval officer.

Naval career

A specialist in

hydrography Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers, as well as with the prediction of their change over time, for the primary p ...

and

amphibious warfare Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducte ...

, Kumar was also a qualified air warfare instructor. He was an alumnus of the National Defence College and was an instructor at the

Defence Services Staff College , motto_lang = sa , mottoeng = ''To War with Wisdom'' , established = (as the ''Army Staff College'', Deolali) , type = Defence Service Training Institute , affiliation = , endowment = , administrative_staff = , faculty = , presi ...

, Wellington. His training abroad included a deputation to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

on board in 1963 and a course in amphibious warfare with the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

Coronado, California Coronado (Spanish for "Crowned") is a resort city located in San Diego County, California, United States, across the San Diego Bay from downtown San Diego. It was founded in the 1880s and incorporated in 1890. Its population was 24,697 at the ...

, in 1976. He participated in the 1961

invasion of Goa The Annexation of Goa was the process in which the India, Republic of India annexed ', the then Portuguese Indian territories of Goa, Daman and Diu, starting with the armed action carried out by the Indian Armed Forces in December 1961. In ...

and in both the Indo-Pakistan wars of

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

and

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

. He was awarded the

Nao Sena Medal Nau Sena Medal (also spelt ''Nao Sena Medal'', lit. ''Navy Medal'') is a gallantry award for servicemen in the Indian Navy. History The Nao Sena Medal was instituted on 26 January 1960 by the Government of India, with the approval of the Presid ...

for gallantry whilst in command of INS Ghorpad. Kumar was promoted to substantive commander on 1 January 1977 and to captain on 1 January 1983. As Director of Naval Operations, he was decorated with the

Uttam Yudh Seva Medal Uttam Yudh Seva Medal (UYSM; ''Great War Service Medal'') is one of India's military decorations for Wartime Distinguished Service. It is awarded for a high degree of distinguished services in an operational context. "Operational context" includes ...

for his exceptional conduct in

Operation Pawan Operation Pawan ( hi, कार्यवाही पवन ''Kãryvãhi Pavan'', lit. "Operation Wind") was the code name assigned to the operation by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to take control of Jaffna from the Liberation Tigers of ...

and in Operation Cactus (Liberation of Maldives).

Flag rank

He was promoted to substantive rear admiral on 6 July 1990. Kumar held operational commands and important posts such as the Vice Chief of Naval Staff, the Flag Officer Maharashtra Area (FOMA), Commander of the Flotilla in Mumbai and Fortress Commander,

Andaman & Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India consisting of 572 islands, of which 37 are inhabited, at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The territory is about north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated f ...

(FORTAN). He was the

Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief 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 Fl ...

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

, before being appointed the Chief of Naval Staff. Sushil Kumar assumed charge of the Indian Navy, as the 16th Chief of Naval Staff, on 30 December 1998. During his tenure as CNS, He was the highest-decorated serving officer in the Indian Navy, and he retired on 29 December 2001. He was a keen yachtsman and played

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

on the international circuit, for which he had an international rating of 4+ goals.

Death

Kumar died on 27 November 2019 at the Indian Army Research and Referral Hospital, Delhi at the age of 79. Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

expressed his condolences upon this.

Awards and decorations

Former Indian Navy chiefs with Admiral Robin K

References

Chiefs of the Naval Staff (India) Vice Chiefs of Naval Staff (India) Indian Navy admirals People from Kanyakumari district 2019 deaths Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Year of birth missing Chiefs of Personnel (India) National Defence College, India alumni Recipients of the Uttam Yudh Seva Medal Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Nau Sena Medal {{India-mil-bio-stub