Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman

Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman
Born (1913-03-13)13 March 1913
Gwalior, Gwalior State, British Raj
Died 8 February 1995(1995-02-08) (aged 81)
Allegiance  British Raj
 India
Service/branch  Royal Indian Navy
Indian Navy
Years of service 1932–1966
Rank Admiral
Commands held Chief of the Naval Staff
Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Fleet
Commander-in-Charge, Bombay Command
Battles/wars World War II
Liberation of Goa
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
Soman (right) with OB Sjaaf of the Indonesian Navy, 1960

Admiral Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman (30 March 1913 – 8 February 1995) was an Indian naval officer and in command of the Indian Navy from 1962 to 1966 as the 4th Chief of Naval Staff.[1]

Life and career

Soman was born in Gwalior, the capital of the eponymous princely state. He received his early education at the Indian National Congress' Tilak Vidyalaya and at a school in Sangli State. He subsequently entered the Royal Indian Marine (RIM), and following initial training on the training ship T/S Dufferin, was selected for officer training in the United Kingdom in 1932.[2] He was appointed a sub-lieutenant in the RIM on 1 September 1934,[3] and was promoted to lieutenant on 1 September 1937.[4] During World War II, Soman was promoted to acting lieutenant-commander on 29 April 1944,[5] and to the permanent rank of lieutenant-commander on 1 September 1945.[6]

After the war, he was promoted to the acting rank of commander in 1946, and was promoted to acting captain in 1947. He was subsequently appointed Chief of Personnel, followed by appointment as Chief of Administration, Naval HQ,[2] receiving promotion to the substantive rank of captain on 31 December 1950.[7] In 1952, as a captain in the now-Indian Navy, he was appointed the first Indian Naval Officer-in-Charge, Vishakapatnam, which oversaw the Boys' Training Establishment.[1] In January 1954, he was appointed Commodore-in-Charge, Cochin, with appointment as Commodore-in-Charge, Bombay, towards the end of 1956. With the upgrading of the post, he was promoted to rear admiral on 12 June 1958 and reappointed as Flag Officer Commanding, Bombay.[8] In April 1960, he took over as Flag Officer Commanding, Indian Fleet, and was in charge of India's naval operations during the 1961 Liberation of Goa.[2][1]

Soman relinquished the post of CNS as a vice-admiral, then the highest rank in the Indian Navy. In 1968, the post of CNS was upgraded to the rank of full admiral, and on 21 October 1980, he and Ram Dass Katari, his predecessor as CNS, were promoted to the honorary rank of full Admiral on the retired list by President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy.[9] Soman suffered a mild stroke in December 1994. In February 1995, he suffered a more serious stroke which led to his death at the age of 81.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Bharat Rakshak: Chiefs of the Indian Navy
  2. 1 2 3 Nanporia, N. J., ed. (1967). "Who's Who in India (Soman, Bhaskar Sadashiv)". The Times of India Directory & Yearbook, including Who's Who. The Times of India Press, Bombay. p. 1034.
  3. ↑ "No. 34150". The London Gazette. 12 April 1935. p. 2515.
  4. ↑ "No. 34444". The London Gazette. 15 October 1937. p. 6377.
  5. ↑ "The Royal Indian Navy". The Navy List: January 1945. HM Government, UK. 1945. p. 2092.
  6. ↑ "No. 37436". The London Gazette. 18 January 1946. p. 527.
  7. ↑ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)". The Gazette of India. 20 January 1951. p. 14.
  8. ↑ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)". The Gazette of India. 16 August 1958. p. 188.
  9. ↑ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)". The Gazette of India. 29 November 1980. p. 1360.
  10. ↑ टिप : विशिष्ट नोंद पहाण्यासाठी खंडनिहाय आणि विषयनिहाय या मार्गाचा वापर करता येईल. विशिष्ट नोंद किंवा कोणत्याही विषयासंदर्भात माहिती हवी असल्यास त्याचा शोध
Military offices
Preceded by
Ram Dass Katari		 Chief of the Naval Staff
1962–1966		 Succeeded by
Adhar Kumar Chatterji
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