Commander of the Navy (Sri Lanka)

The Commander of the Navy is the professional head of the Sri Lanka Navy. The current Commander of the Navy is Vice Admiral Piyal De Silva. It is a position equivalent to that of First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy or Chief of Naval Operations in the United States Navy.

Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy
ශ්‍රී ලංකා නාවික හමුදාපති
Incumbent
Vice Admiral Piyal De Silva
since 1 January 2019
 Sri Lanka Navy
AbbreviationCofN
Member ofNational Security Council
Reports toMinistry of Defence
Chief of the Defence Staff
SeatNaval Headquarters, SLNS Parakrama, Flagstaff street, Colombo 1
AppointerThe President
Term lengthNot fixed
Constituting instrumentNavy Act (Chapter 358)
Formation1 February 1938 (1938-02-01)
as Commander of the Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force
First holderCaptain W. G. Beauchamp
(as Commander CNVF)
DeputyChief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Navy
Sri Lanka Navy
Components
History
Ships
Personnel

By convention, serving Navy commanders have a rank of Vice Admiral, and will be promoted to the rank of Admiral on retirement or if appointed as Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

History

The post of Captain of the Navy was created through the Navy Act of 9 December 1950, which also established the Royal Ceylon Navy.[1]

In 1972, the "Dominion of Ceylon" became the "Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka" and the Royal Ceylon Navy was renamed the Sri Lanka Navy. The title "Captain of the Navy" was changed to "Commander of the Navy" through the Navy (Amendment) Law, No. 33 of 1976[2] in keeping with the terminology adopted by the other two services.

Official Residence

The official residences of the Commander of the Navy is the Navy House in Colombo and the Navy House in Trincomale.

List of Commanders (including Commanders of the Royal Ceylon Navy)
No. Portrait Rank Name Appointment Left Office Decorations
Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force (1938–1950)
1CaptainW. G. Beauchamp1 February 193831 March 1946VRD, CBE
2CommanderRoyce de Mel19461950OBE
Royal Ceylon Navy (1950–1972)
1CaptainW. E. Banks2 December 195025 November 1951CBE, DSC
2CaptainJ. R. S. Brown26 November 195114 June 1953
3CommodoreP. M. B. Chavasse15 June 19537 November 1955DSC
4Rear AdmiralRoyce de Mel15 August 195515 November 1960OBE, ADC
5Rear AdmiralRajan Kadiragamar16 November 19601 July 1970MVO, ADC
6Rear AdmiralD. V. Hunter2 July 197022 May 1972
Sri Lanka Navy (1972-present)
6Rear AdmiralD. V. Hunter22 May 197231 March 1973
7Rear AdmiralDeshamanya Basil Gunasekara1 April 197331 May 1979
8Rear AdmiralHenry Perera1 June 197931 May 1983VSV
9Rear AdmiralAsoka de Silva1 June 198331 October 1986VSV
10Vice AdmiralH. A. Silva1 November 198631 October 1991VSV
11Vice AdmiralClancy Fernando †1 November 199116 November 1992VSV
12Vice AdmiralD. A. M. R. Samarasekara16 November 199227 November 1997VSV, USP
13Vice AdmiralH. C. A. C. Thisera28 January 199731 December 2000VSV, USP
14Vice AdmiralDaya Sandagiri1 January 200131 August 2005VSV, USP
15Vice AdmiralWasantha Karannagoda1 September 200515 July 2009RSP, VSV, USP
16Vice AdmiralThisara Samarasinghe15 July 200915 January 2011RSP, VSV, USP
17Vice AdmiralD. W. A. S. Dissanayake15 January 201127 September 2012WV, RSP & Bar, VSV, USP
18Vice AdmiralJayanath Colombage27 September 201230 June 2014RSP, VSV, USP
19Vice AdmiralJayantha Perera1 July 201410 July 2015RWP, VSV, USP
20Vice AdmiralRavindra Wijegunaratne11 July 201521 August 2017WV, RWP & Bar, RSP, VSV, USP
21Vice AdmiralTravis Sinniah22 August 201726 October 2017WWV, RWP, RSP (x3), USP
22Vice AdmiralSirimevan Ranasinghe26 October 201731 December 2018WWV, RWP, USP
23Vice AdmiralPiyal De Silva1 January 2019PresentWWV & Bar, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, ndc

See also

References
  1. "Navy Act". Srilankalaw.lk. Blackhall Publishing. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  2. "Navy (Amendment) Law (No. 33 of 1976) - Sect 3". ComonLII.com. Commonwealth Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
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