Chief of Staff of the Navy has been the title of the second in command of the Sri Lanka Navy. The post is held by a regular officer of the rank of Rear Admiral and is the second most senior position in the navy. Chief of Staff is charged with assisting the Navy Commander in both operational and administrative aspects, functioning as the Acting Navy Commander in his absences or incantation. Chief of Staff is assisted by the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy.
List of chiefs of staff
Information missing from 1951 to 31 December 1976
NoChief of staffTook officeLeft officeNotes Commander Royce de Mel 1951 CaptainRoyce de Mel was appointed as 4th Commander of the Navy and promoted to Rear Admiral becoming the first serving officer to hold the rank. Captain Rajan Kadiragamar Later Captain Rajan Kadiragamar was appointed as 5th Commander of the Navy and promoted to Rear Admiral 1959 . Commander D. V. Hunter Later Commander D. V. Hunter was appointed as 6th Commander of the Navy and promoted to Rear Admiral 1959 . Commodore Basil Gunasekara 19711973Later Commodore Basil Gunasekara was appointed as 7th Commander of the Navy and promoted to Rear Admiral and on his retirement he was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral. Commodore Henry Perera 1 January 197731 May 1979Later Commodore Henry Perera was appointed as 8th Commander of the Navy and promoted to Rear Admiral and on his retirement he was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral. Commodore Asoka de Silva 1 July 197931 May 1983Later Commodore Asoka de Silva was appointed as 9th Commander of the Navy and promoted to Rear Admiral. On 1 August 1986 he was promoted to Vice Admiral becoming the first naval officer to hold the rank. Commodore H. A. Silva 1 July 198331 October 1986Later Commodore H. A. Silva was appointed as 10th Commander of the Navy and promoted to Rear Admiral and on his retirement he was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral. Rear Admiral Justin Jayasuriya 10 November 198628 March 1990 Rear Admiral Clancy Fernando 4 April 1990 31 July 1991Later Rear Admiral Clancy Fernando was appointed as 11th Commander of the Navy and promoted to Vice Admiral. He was assassinated by a LTTE suicide bomber on 16 November 1992, and posthumously promoted to Admiral. Rear Admiral F.N.Q. Wickramaratne 3 January 19924 October 1992 Rear Admiral D. A. M. R. Samarasekara 6 October 199215 November 1992 Rear Admiral H. C. A. C. Thisera 1 July 199427 January 1997 Rear Admiral D.K. Dassanayake 7 February 199731 March 1998 Rear Admiral Daya Sandagiri 30 March 199831 December 2000Later Rear Admiral Daya Sandagiri was appointed as 14th Commander of the Navy and promoted to Vice Admiral and on his retirement he was promoted to Admiral and appointed as Chief of the Defence Staff. Rear Admiral AHM Razeek1 January 200128 February 2001 Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrama2 March 200123 November 2005In 2019 President Maithripala Sirisena assigned him the rank of Vice Admiral from the date of retirement. Rear Admiral Sarath Ratnakeerthi25 November 200515 July 2006 Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara17 July 200628 October 2006 Rear Admiral CN Thuduwewatta30 October 200620 May 2007 Rear Admiral TMWKB Tennakoon21 May 20076 June 2008 Rear Admiral MRU Siriwardena7 June 200815 May 2009 Rear Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe16 May 200914 July 2009Later Rear Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe was appointed as 16th Commander of the Navy and promoted to Vice Admiral and on his retirement he was promoted to the rank of Admiral. Rear Admiral D. W. A. S. Dissanayake15 July 200914 January 2011Later Rear Admiral D. W. A. S. Dissanayake was appointed as 17th Commander of the Navy and promoted to Vice Admiral and on his retirement he was promoted to the rank of Admiral. Vacant14 January 201127 September 2012 Rear Admiral MTDJ Dharmasiriwardane27 September 20123 July 2013 Rear Admiral Jayantha Perera4 July 201330 June 2014Later Rear Admiral Jayantha Perera was appointed as 19th Commander of the Navy and promoted to Vice Admiral and on his retirement he was promoted to the rank of Admiral. Rear Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne7 July 201410 July 2015Later Rear Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne was appointed as 20th Commander of the Navy and promoted to Vice Admiral. On 18 August 2017 he was promoted to the rank of Admiral and appointed as Chief of Defense Staff. Rear Admiral Sirimevan Ranasinghe11 July 201525 October 2017Later Rear Admiral Sirimevan Ranasinghe was appointed as 22nd Commander of the Navy and promoted to Vice Admiral and on his retirement he was promoted to the rank of Admiral. Rear Admiral Neil Rosayro26 October 20171 July 2018 Rear Admiral Piyal De Silva2 July 201831 December 2018Later Rear Admiral Piyal De Silva was appointed as 23rd Commander of the Navy and promoted to Vice Admiral and on his retirement he was promoted to the rank of Admiral. Rear Admiral Jagath Ranasinghe1 January 20193 May 2019 Rear Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne4 May 201914 July 2020Later Rear Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne was appointed as 24th Commander of the Navy and promoted to Vice Admiral. Rear Admiral Kapila Samaraweera 12 September 202014 January 2021 Rear Admiral Sumith Weerasinghe 15 January 202120 March 2021 Rear Admiral Ruwan Perera 21 March 202127 July 2021 Rear Admiral Y. N. Jayarathna17 August 202121 June 2022 Rear Admiral Upul De Silva21 June 20228 July 2022 Rear Admiral Priyantha Perera9 July 2022 18 December 2022Later Rear Admiral Priyantha Perera was appointed as 25th Commander of the Navy and promoted to Vice Admiral.Rear Admiral Jayantha Kularathna18 December 202216 January 2024Rear Admiral Pradeep Rathnayake16 January 202415 August 2024He was the Deputy Chief of Staff from 23 December 2022 till 16 January 2024.Rear Admiral Kanchana Banagoda16 August 202430 December 2024Rear Admiral K.D.D.C. Fernando31 December 2024
References
External links Sri Lanka Navy