Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF) is the title of the Indian Navy Officer who commands the Eastern Fleet, headquartered in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The FOCEF is a Two Star Officer holding the rank of Rear Admiral. The current FOCEF is Rear Admiral Vishal Bishnoi, who assumed office on 24 July 2026.

History After the independence and the Partition of India on 15 August 1947, the ships and personnel of the Royal Indian Navy were divided between the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The division of the ships was on the basis of two-thirds of the fleet to India, one third to Pakistan.Bhatia (1977), p. 28: "Consequent on the partition of the country on 15 August 1947, two thirds of the undivided fleet and associated assets came to India."

The operational ships of the remaining Royal Indian Navy, minus Pakistan, were initially placed under the command of the Commodore Commanding Indian Naval Squadron (COMINS), later the Rear-Admiral Commanding Indian Naval Squadron (RACINS), whose title was then changed to Flag Officer (Flotilla) Indian Fleet (FOFIF). These appointments were initially held by British officers: Commodore H.N.S. Brown, who was the Commanding Officer of and serving as COMINS, seemingly at the same time, and later, Commodore (later Rear Admiral) Geoffrey Barnard who became COMINS and later Rear-Admiral Commanding, INS. The Flotilla was later upgraded to the Indian Fleet under a Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet (FOCIF).

On the proclamation of a Republic in 1950, the 'Royal' title was dropped and the Navy became simply the Indian Navy. Barnard was succeeded by Rear Admiral N.V. ("Uncle Richard") Dickinson, Rear Admiral F.A. Ballance, and then the final British officer Rear Admiral St John Tyrwhitt as FOCIF. In 1956, Rear Admiral Ram Dass Katari became the first Indian flag officer, and was appointed the first Indian FOCIF on 2 October, when he took over from Rear Admiral Tyrwhitt. (title alternately given as Flag Officer (Flotilla)). In 1957, was commissioned, and the flag of Rear Admiral Katari was transferred, INS Mysore thus becoming the flagship of the Indian Fleet.

On 1 March 1968, the Eastern Naval Command was established and the Indian Fleet was renamed as the Western Fleet. In September 1971, Rear Admiral S H Sarma was summoned by the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral S M Nanda who told him that he was to move to Visakhapatnam and take up command of the yet-to-be-formed Eastern Fleet. The two-fleet concept of the Navy came into force with the constitution of the Eastern Fleet on 1 November 1971. Rear Admiral Sarma took over as the founding Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF). In mid 1971, The aircraft carrier , along with the frigates INS Brahmaputra and INS Beas were moved from the Western Fleet to the Eastern Naval Command. Thus, INS Vikrant became the flagship of the Eastern Fleet.

Organisation The FOCWF is assisted by the fleet staff, headed by the Fleet Operations Officer (FOO), a one-star appointment. The Fleet Communications & Electronic Warfare Officer (FCO), Fleet Gunnery Officer (FGO), Fleet Navigation Officer (FNO), Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Officer (FASWO), Fleet Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Damage Control Officer (FNBCDO), Fleet Engineering Officer (FEO) and Fleet Electrical Officer (FLO) make up the rest of the fleet staff.

List of commanders S.No. Name Assumed office Left office Notes1Rear Admiral S H Sarma 1 November 19711 March 1973Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.2Rear Admiral Ronald Lynsdale Pereira 2 March 197310 January 1975Later Chief of the Naval Staff.3Rear Admiral R K S Ghandhi 28 January 197518 October 1975Also commanded the Western Fleet. Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.4Rear Admiral V. E. C. Barboza 29 October 197514 April 1976Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.5Rear Admiral D. S. Paintal 16 April 19769 June 19776Rear Admiral Mihir K. Roy 10 June 197727 February 1978Director of Naval Intelligence during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.7Rear Admiral Oscar Stanley Dawson 28 February 197820 March 1979Later Chief of the Naval Staff.8Rear Admiral S. L. Sethi 21 March 19794 January 1980Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.9Rear Admiral K. K. Nayyar 5 January 198017 July 1981Later commanded the Western Fleet and served as Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.10Rear Admiral Sukmal Jain 18 July 198114 October 1982Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.11Rear Admiral I. J. S. Khurana15 October 198228 June 1983Later Director General of the Indian Coast Guard.12Rear Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas 29 June 198327 March 1985Later Chief of the Naval Staff.13Rear Admiral S. P. Govil 28 March 19857 March 1986Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.14Rear Admiral H. Johnson 8 March 19868 July 1987Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.15Rear Admiral S. W. Lakhkar 9 July 198722 August 1988Later Fortress Commander, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Director General of the Indian Coast Guard.16Rear Admiral B. Guha 23 August 198828 January 1990Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.17Rear Admiral P. S. Das 29 January 199026 October 1991Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.18Rear Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat 27 October 19912 October 1992Later Chief of the Naval Staff.19Rear Admiral P. J. Jacob 3 October 19922 January 1994Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.20Rear Admiral Harinder Singh 3 January 199428 April 1995Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command.21Rear Admiral Arun Prakash 29 April 199526 November 1996Later Chief of the Naval Staff.22Rear Admiral Om Prakash Bansal 27 November 199614 October 1997Later served as Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command and as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.23Rear Admiral S. V. Gopalachari 15 October 199710 November 1998Later Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff.24Rear Admiral K. V. Bharathan 11 November 199814 March 2000Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.25Rear Admiral Arun Kumar Singh 15 March 20007 October 2001Later served as Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command and as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.26Rear Admiral Pradeep Kaushiva 8 October 200126 January 2003Later Commandant of the National Defence College.27Rear Admiral Raman Prem Suthan 26 January 200329 April 2004Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.28Rear Admiral S. K. Damle 30 April 200423 May 2005Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command.29Rear Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin 24 May 200523 March 2006Later Commandant of the National Defence College and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.30Rear Admiral D. K. Joshi 24 March 200615 March 2007Later Chief of the Naval Staff.31Rear Admiral Robin K. Dhowan 15 March 200724 January 2008Later Chief of the Naval Staff.32Rear Admiral Satish Soni16 February 200826 November 2008Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.33Rear Admiral Anurag Thapliyal 26 November 200831 August 2009Later served as Commandant of Indian Naval Academy and as the Director General of the Indian Coast Guard.34Rear Admiral P. N. Murugesan 31 August 200924 January 2011Later served as Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.35Rear Admiral Harish Bisht24 January 201130 April 2012Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.36Rear Admiral Ajit Kumar P 30 April 201215 August 2013Later served as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.37Rear Admiral Atul Kumar Jain 10 July 20137 October 2014Later served as Chief of Integrated Defence Staff.38Rear Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh 7 October 20146 October 2015Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.39Rear Admiral S. V. Bhokare 12 October 201515 October 2016Later served as Inspector General Nuclear Safety.40Rear Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta 14 October 201615 January 2018Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.41Rear Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi 15 January 201830 March 2019Later Chief of the Naval Staff.42Rear Admiral Suraj Berry 30 March 201910 February 2020Later Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Forces Command.43Rear Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan 10 February 202023 February 2021Current Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.44Rear Admiral Tarun Sobti 23 February 202120 December 2021Later Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff.45Rear Admiral Sanjay Bhalla 20 December 202130 November 2022Current Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.46Rear Admiral Gurcharan Singh 01 December 202210 November 2023Current Chief of Personnel.47Rear Admiral Rajesh Dhankhar 10 November 202321 August 2024Current Deputy Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff (Doctrine, Organisation & Training).48Rear Admiral Susheel Menon 21 August 202417 October 2025Current Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command.49Rear Admiral Alok Ananda 17 October 202523 July 202650Rear Admiral Vishal Bishnoi 24 July 2026Present

See also Eastern Fleet Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet

References