Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Navy

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.[1][2]

Chief of Staff of the Navy
Sri Lanka Navy
TypeVery senior post
StatusTwo star admiral
AbbreviationCOS
Reports toCommander of the Navy
ResidenceColombo
SeatNavy HQ
NominatorPresident of Sri Lanka
AppointerPresident of Sri Lanka
Term lengthNot fixed
Formation1949
DeputyDeputy Chief of Staff

List of chiefs of staff

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No Chief of staff Took office Left office Notes
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 1971 1973 Later 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 31 May 1979 Later 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[3] 1 July 1979 31 May 1983 Later 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 June 1983 31 October 1986 Later 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 Clancy Fernando 1991 31 October 1991 Later 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 the 16 November 1992, and posthumously promoted to Admiral.
Rear Admiral D. A. M. R. Samarasekara 15 November 1992
Rear Admiral Daya Sandagiri April 1998 13 December 2000 Later 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 Razeek 28 February 2001
Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrama 2 March 2001 31 August 2005 In 2019 President Maithripala Sirisena assigned him the rank of Vice Admiral from the date of retirement.
Rear Admiral Sarath Ratnakeerthi 1 September 2005 13 December 2005
Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara 1 January 2006 31 December 2006
Rear Admiral CN Thuduwewatta 1 January 2006 20 May 2007
Rear Admiral TMWKB Tennakoon 21 May 2007 6 June 2008
Rear Admiral MRU Siriwardena 7 June 2008 15 May 2009
Rear Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe 16 May 2009 14 July 2009 Later 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. Dissanayake 15 July 2009 14 January 2011 Later 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.
Rear Admiral MTDJ Dharma Siriwardane 27 September 2012 9 January 2013 COS was vacant from 14 January 2011 to 27 September 2012
Rear Admiral Jayantha Perera[4] 10 January 2013 30 June 2014 Later 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 Wijegunaratne 7 July 2014 10 July 2015 Later 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 Ranasinghe 11 July 2015 25 October 2017 Later 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 Rosayro 8 November 2017 1 July 2018
Rear Admiral Piyal De Silva 2 July 2018 30 December 2018 Later 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 Ranasinghe 1 January 2019 3 May 2019
Rear Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne 4 May 2019 14 July 2020 Later Rear Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne was appointed as 24th Commander of the Navy and promoted to Vice Admiral.
Rear Admiral Kapila Samaraweera 12 September 2020 15 January 2021
Rear Admiral Sumith Weerasinghe 15 January 2021
Rear Admiral Ruwan Perera 21 March 2021 21 July 2021
Rear Admiral Y. N. Jayarathna August 2021 21 June 2022
Rear Admiral Upul De Silva 21 June 2022 July 2022
Rear Admiral Priyantha Perera 9 July 2022 18 December 2022 Later Rear Admiral Priyantha Perera was appointed as 25th Commander of the Navy and promoted to Vice Admiral.
Rear Admiral Jayantha Kularathna 18 December 2022 16 January 2024
Rear Admiral Pradeep Rathnayake 16 January 2024 16 August 2024 He was the Deputy Chief of Staff from 23rd December 2022 till 16 January 2024.
Rear Admiral Kanchana Banagoda 16 August 2024

References

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  1. ^ "Navy Act". Srilankalaw.lk. Blackhall Publishing. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  2. ^ "Past Commanders". navy.lk.
  3. ^ "VICE ADMIRAL ASOKA DE SILVA - FORMER COMMANDER OF THE NAVY". infolanka. News.
  4. ^ "Rear Admiral Jayantha Perera appointed Navy Chief of Staff". DailyNews.
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