Admiral Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda, PVSM, AVSM (10 October 1915 – 11 May 2009) was an Indian Navy admiral who served as the 6th Chief of the Naval Staff from 1 March 1970 until 28 February 1973. He led the Indian Navy during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and successfully executed a naval blockade of both West and East Pakistan, helping India achieve an overwhelming victory during the war. For the important role he played in the war, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award. Nanda is recognised as one of the most notable commanders in the history of the Indian Navy.
Born in Manora, Karachi, in the Sind Province of British India, Nanda joined the Royal Indian Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1941. During World War II, he served onboard HMIS Travancore and as an instructor at the signals school in HMIS Talwar. After the war, he served on board HMIS Narbada (U40) which was based out of Japan as part of the British occupation forces. He subsequently served as the communication officer of HMIS Cauvery (U10).
Following the Independence of India, he was appointed executive officer of Cauvery, and in 1948, was appointed first lieutenant of the flagship HMIS Delhi (C74). In 1949, he was appointed director of personnel services at NHQ and in 1950 took command of the R-class destroyer INS Ranjit (1949), which represented India at the coronation review of the fleet. Nanda subsequently commanded the Black Swan-class sloop INS Jamuna (U21) and the 16th frigate squadron. In 1954, he was appointed Chief of Personnel and constituted commodore 2nd class in September 1956. Appointed the commissioning commanding officer of the new flagship of the Navy, the Crown Colony-class cruiser INS Mysore (C60), he commissioned the ship in August 1957 at Birkenhead. In 1958, he took over as the Director General Naval Dockyard Expansion Scheme. After attending the Imperial Defence College in 1962, he returned to India and was appointed Chief of Materiel at NHQ.
Promoted to flag rank in May 1962, Nanda was appointed the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. As DCNS, he played an important role in the development of Goa as a naval base. In 1964, he took over as the managing director of Mazagon Dock Limited. In 1966, he was appointed Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet and then Flag Officer Bombay in 1968. The Bombay command was upgraded and Nanda took over as the first Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command in the rank of vice admiral. On 1 March 1970, he took command as the seventh Chief of the Naval Staff. Under his command, the Navy attacked Karachi with missile boats and bombarded ports in East Pakistan with aircraft of INS Vikrant, apart from successfully enforcing naval blockades on two fronts. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award, and awards for distinguished service – the Param Vishisht Seva Medal and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal.
Nanda was born on 10 October 1915 to Mathra Das, an office superintendent at the workshop of the Port Trust in Manora, Karachi and Pooran Devi. His parents were from villages near Gujranwala in the Punjab Province. He was born in a Punjabi Hindu Khatri family. He was raised on Manora Island at the entrance to the Port of Karachi. He was the eldest of seven children – three boys and four girls. He attended a primary school on the island and then the N J High School in Karachi. He worked for the Port and Pilotage department at Manora after finishing his schooling.
After the outbreak of World War II, he applied for a commission in the Royal Indian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RINVR). He appeared before a selection board in Bombay in September 1941. Successful in the written test and the interview, he was commissioned in the RINVR on 11 October 1941 as an acting sub-lieutenant in the Executive Branch.
Nanda started his career with a training course for six months on the Deepawati. He was then sent to Calcutta for his next assignment. At Calcutta, he was asked to go to Khulna and take command of a river steamer and patrol the Sundarbans. In June 1942, he was selected for a specialist communications course at HMIS Talwar, the Signals School in Colaba, Bombay. After the course, he served as the signals officer on board the minesweeper HMIS Travancore. In October 1942, he was promoted to the acting rank of lieutenant and appointed an instructor at the Signals School. After the end of the war, he stayed in the Navy despite rapid, large-scale demobilisation. He appeared before a selection board in Lonavala on 31 October 1945.
Nanda was serving at the Signals School at HMIS Talwar when the Royal Indian Navy mutiny broke out in February 1946. The mutiny first started at HMIS Talwar and spread to ships and other shore establishments. The mutiny was called off after the sailors met with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He was asked by the sailors to accompany them, which he did.
In June 1946, he was posted to the sloop HMIS Narbada (U40), which was to sail for Japan from Madras. The ship was based out of Kure, Hiroshima, as part of the British occupation forces and was later transferred to Sasebo, Nagasaki, as part of the US occupation forces. On 19 October 1946 he was granted a permanent commission in the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) as a Lieutenant with backdated seniority of 10 October 1940. In January 1947, he was appointed communications officer of the sloop HMIS Cauvery (U10), then deployed at Karachi.
After the partition of India, the Cauvery was assigned to India and she set sail for Bombay. The British officers embarked for England and Nanda was appointed executive officer of the ship. HMIS Kistna (U46) and Cauvery commanded by Commander Ram Dass Katari and Commander Reggie Sawhney respectively made two trips to the United Kingdom. This was because the cruiser HMS Achilles (70) was being purchased by India and renamed HMIS Delhi and the crew was to be transported. In 1948, he was promoted to the acting rank of lieutenant commander and appointed first lieutenant of HMIS Delhi (C74) under the command of Captain H.N.S. Brown, with Commander Ram Dass Katari as his executive officer. To train for this appointment, he was ordered to join the Mediterranean Fleet. He served on board the aircraft carrier HMS Triumph (R16) and subsequently on the cruiser HMS Newcastle (C76).
HMIS Delhi was commissioned on 5 July 1948 by the High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom V. K. Krishna Menon. On her way to India, she called at Portsmouth, Portland, Gibraltar and Malta. The Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru himself welcomed the ship at Bombay. She went on a cruise round the coasts of India, calling at Karwar, Cochin, Trincomalee, Madras, Vizag, Calcutta, Port Blair, Colombo and Calicut before returning to Bombay. In May 1949, she left on her Indian Ocean cruise. She called at Victoria, Seychelles, Port Louis in Mauritius, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Mombasa in Kenya. The cruise to the Indian Ocean republics and East Africa generated a tremendous amount of goodwill.
On 30 June 1949, at the end of the goodwill mission, Nanda was promoted substantive lieutenant-commander and to the acting rank of Commander. He was appointed director of personnel services (DPS) at Naval headquarters. Nanda was promoted to substantive commander on 31 December 1950. He served as the DPS for about two years. On 10 October 1951, he took command of the R-class destroyer, INS Ranjit (1949). The Ranjit was part of the 11th Destroyer Squadron commanded by Captain Ram Dass Katari. The other two ships in the squadron were INS Rajput (D141) and INS Rana (1942). Nanda took the ship on a goodwill cruise to Singapore, Saigon, Jakarta and other ports in Indonesia like Bali. In Jakarta, he called on and was received by the first President of Indonesia, Sukarno.
In early 1952, Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by way of Kenya. The Rajput and the Ranjit were nominated to escort the HMY Britannia from Mombasa to Australia. With the death of King George VI, this was cancelled. To commemorate the Coronation of Elizabeth II, a massive Coronation review of the fleet was held at Portsmouth. The flagship INS Delhi, commanded by Captain Adhar Kumar Chatterji, destroyer INS Ranjit, commanded by Nanda, and the frigate INS Tir (K256), commanded by Commander Nilakanta Krishnan, represented India at the review. A naval armada consisting of ships from the Indian Navy, Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy and the Royal New Zealand Navy sailed from Portsmouth to Gibraltar. The fleet carried out exercises along the way and was under the command of Lord Mountbatten. The Ranjit under Nanda acquitted itself well during these exercises. Subsequently, the Indian ships continued conducting exercises with the Mediterranean Fleet. They sailed from Gibraltar to Malta, the Greek islands and to Istanbul.