The persistent admiral

In March 1966, Chatterji stepped in as CNS. He was, of course, fully aware of the low morale of the navy which was being mocked by the public for its lack of action even after the Pak navy’s bombardment, however ineffective, of Dwarka. He took on the task of developing a navy capable not only of defending our maritime interests but of projecting seapower far from our shores. In doing so, he had to encounter stiff resistance from the government. His efforts, however, started bearing fruit and the government started apportioning a bigger share of the defence budget to the navy.

The success of the Russian-built missile boat of the Egyptian navy in sinking the Israeli frigate ‘Eilath’ in the Arab-Israel war in June 1967 caught the fancy of Indian naval planners and Chatterji actively pursued the acquisition of 8 Osa class missile boats from the USSR. They were inducted well in time for the 1971 operations.

Among his other professional achievements, Chatterji was, at the age of 35, the first Indian commanding officer of the cruiser INS Delhi which was the largest Indian ship of that time. Today, a captain is lucky if he can get a similar command at 45. He was the first CNS to be given the rank of a full admiral. With all that, he retired at the age of 55 after a four-year term as CNS.

Finally, the admiral was a simple, honest person. He would drive to the NDC and back in his own vehicle and not use the staff car. If he was given a gift such as a bottle of scotch on his tours, he would invite all members of his team in the evening to share it with him. Yet, with all his achievements, he was never conferred any award by the government!