Western Naval Command
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The Western Naval Command is one of the three command–level formations of 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 ...
. It is headquartered in
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
,
Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
. As the senior–most of the three formations, the command is responsible for the all naval forces in the
Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...
and western parts of the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...
and the naval establishments on the west coast of India. The Command was formed on 1 March 1968. The Command is commanded by a Three Star Flag Officer of the rank of Vice Admiral with the title Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Command (FOC-in-C). Vice Admiral
Ajendra Bahadur Singh Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC is a flag officer of the Indian Navy. He is currently the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C), Western Naval Command since 29 November 2021 succeeding Vice Admiral R. Hari Kum ...
is the current FOC-in-C WNC, who took over on 30 November 2021.


History

After the
independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
and the
partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
on 15 August 1947, the ships and personnel of the
Royal Indian Navy The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the Armed Forces of British India. Fr ...
were divided between the
Dominion of India The Dominion of India, officially the Union of India,* Quote: “The first collective use (of the word "dominion") occurred at the Colonial Conference (April to May 1907) when the title was conferred upon Canada and Australia. New Zealand and N ...
and the
Dominion of Pakistan Between 14 August 1947 and 23 March 1956, Pakistan was an independent federal dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations, created by the passing of the Indian Independence Act 1947 by the British parliament, which also created the Dominion of I ...
. The division of the ships was on the basis of two-thirds of the fleet to India, one third to Pakistan. Two new appointments were created, the Rear Admiral Commanding Indian Naval Squadron (RACINS), the commander of the surface fleet of the Navy, and the Commodore-in-Charge Bombay, a one-star officer who headed the shore establishments on the western coast. To bring the service more in line with other navies, on 1 May 1952 the Rear Admiral Commanding Indian Naval Squadron was re-designated Flag Officer Commanding (Flotillas), Indian Fleet, On 30 December 1957, the office of Flag Officer Commanding (Flotillas) was re-designated Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet (FOCIF), while the command of the shore establishments was upgraded to the
Two Star Two star, two stars and similar may refer to: * A grading of a hotel, restaurant, film, etc. in a star (classification) scheme * Two star petrol, a class of Leaded petrol formerly sold in the UK * Two-star rank, a senior military rank * Two-Handed ...
appointment of Flag Officer Bombay (FOB) in June 1958. The FOCIF and FOB reported to the Chief of the Naval Staff. On 1 March 1968, the FOB was upgraded to the Three Star of Vice Admiral and was re-designated Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command (FOC-in-C WNC). The Indian Fleet was renamed as
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 ...
with the
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 consi ...
(FOCWF) reporting into the FOC-in-C WNC.


Area of responsibility

The Western Naval Command (WNC) is the sword arm of the Indian Navy and naval operations conducted on the western seaboard would be central to the outcome of any conflict at sea against
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. The
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 ...
is the two-star level operational formation of the Western Naval Command. It utilises
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
and
Karwar Karwar is a seaside city, ''taluka'', and administrative headquarters of Uttara Kannada district lying at the mouth of the Kali river on the Kanara coast of Karnataka state, India. Karwar is a popular tourist destination and with a city urba ...
as its home ports, with INS Kunjali, its HQ in
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
. The fleet at the WNC is based under Flag Officer Maharashtra Area (FOMA) and provides naval defence in the sensitive north
Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...
adjacent to Pakistan. INS ''Kadamba'', a large naval base, was constructed under Project Seabird and completed in 2005. This
naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that us ...
, at
Karwar Karwar is a seaside city, ''taluka'', and administrative headquarters of Uttara Kannada district lying at the mouth of the Kali river on the Kanara coast of Karnataka state, India. Karwar is a popular tourist destination and with a city urba ...
in
Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
, is used exclusively by the Indian Navy.


Capabilities

The Flagship carrier of the
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 ...
is INS ''Vikramaditya''. The WNC is equipped with submarine pens, a carrier dock and main maintenance dockyards. The Carrier Battle Group of the Western Fleet consists of INS ''Vikramaditya'', ''Delhi'' class destroyers, ''Talwar'' class frigates, ''Brahmaputra'' class frigates,
INS Kolkata INS ''Kolkata'' is the lead ship of the guided-missile destroyer, stealth guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy. Named after an Indian city of Kolkata (erstwhile calcutta),she was constructed at Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL), and was hand ...
, Indian navy's one of the most powerful destroyer and ''Sindhughosh'' class submarines. The Naval Aviation is provided by
MiG-29K The Mikoyan MiG-29K (russian: Микоян МиГ-29K; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum-D) is a Russian night fighter, all-weather carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft developed by the Mikoyan ...
fighters along with airborne early warning
Kamov Ka-31 The Kamov Ka-31 (NATO reporting name Helix) is a military helicopter originally developed for the Soviet Navy and currently in service in Russia, China, and India in the naval airborne early warning and control role. As with all Kamov helicopt ...
Helicopters. Full-fledged shipbuilding facilities on the western seaboard include the
Mazagon Dock Limited Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) (IAST: ''Majhagānv Dawk Limiṭeḍ''), formerly called Mazagon Dock Limited, is a shipyard situated in Mazagaon, Mumbai. It manufactures warships and submarines for the Indian Navy and offshore platform ...
in Mumbai, the
Goa Shipyard Limited Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) is an Indian Government owned ship building company located on the West Coast of India at Vasco da Gama, Goa. It was established in 1957, originally by the colonial government of the Portuguese in India as the "Estalei ...
and the
Cochin Shipyard Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) is a shipbuilding facility in India. It is part of a line of maritime-related facilities in the port-city of Kochi, in the state of Kerala, India. Of the services provided by the shipyard are building platform supply ...
Ltd in
Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
, which is India's largest repair dry dock.


Organization

The Western Naval Command is organized as follows:


Naval bases

Naval bases under Western Naval Command are the following


List of Commanders


See also

*
Eastern Naval Command The Eastern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The command is responsible for the all naval forces in the Bay of Bengal and parts of the Indian Ocea ...
*
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 ...


References

{{Indian Navy Indian Navy Naval units and formations of India Commands of the Indian Navy