Commander of the Navy (Sri Lanka)

The commander of the Navy is the professional head of the Sri Lanka Navy. The current commander of the Navy is Vice Admiral Kanchana Banagoda. It is a position equivalent to that of First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy or Chief of Naval Operations in the United States Navy.

Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy
ශ්‍රී ලංකා නාවික හමුදාපති
Incumbent Vice Admiral Kanchana Banagoda since 31 December 2024
Sri Lanka Navy
Abbreviation	CofN
Member of	National Security Council
Reports to	Minister of Defence
Seat	Naval Headquarters
Appointer	President of Sri Lanka
Term length	Not fixed
Constituting instrument	Navy Act (Chapter 358)
Formation	1 February 1938; 87 years ago (1938-02-01) as Commander of the Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force
First holder	Captain W. G. Beauchamp (as Commander CNVF)
Deputy	Chief of Staff of the Navy

By convention, serving Navy commanders have a rank of vice admiral, and will be promoted to the rank of admiral on retirement.

History

The post of Captain of the Navy was created through the Navy Act of 9 December 1950, which also established the Royal Ceylon Navy.^[1]

In 1972, the "Dominion of Ceylon" became the "Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka" and the Royal Ceylon Navy was renamed the Sri Lanka Navy. The title "Captain of the Navy" was changed to "Commander of the Navy" through the Navy (Amendment) Law, No. 33 of 1976^[2] in keeping with the terminology adopted by the other two services.

Official residence

The official residences of the commander of the Navy is the Navy House in Colombo, formerly the Navy House in Trincomalee.

List of commanders (including commanders of the Royal Ceylon Navy)

No.	Portrait	Rank	Name	Appointment	Left office	Decorations
Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force (1938–1950)
1		Captain	W. G. Beauchamp	1 February 1938	31 March 1946	CBE, VRD
2		Rear Admiral	Royce de Mel	1946	1950	OBE
Royal Ceylon Navy (1950–1972)
1		Captain	W. E. Banks	9 December 1950	25 November 1951	CBE, DSC
2		Captain	J. R. S. Brown	26 November 1951	14 June 1953
3		Captain	P. M. B. Chavasse	15 June 1953	7 November 1955	DSC
4		Rear Admiral	Royce de Mel	15 August 1955	15 November 1960	OBE, ADC
5		Rear Admiral	Rajan Kadiragamar	16 November 1960	1 July 1970	MVO, ADC
6		Rear Admiral	D. V. Hunter	2 July 1970	22 May 1972
Sri Lanka Navy (1972–present)
6		Rear Admiral	D. V. Hunter	22 May 1972	31 March 1973
7		Admiral	Deshamanya Basil Gunasekara	1 April 1973	31 May 1979
8		Admiral	Henry Perera	1 June 1979	31 May 1983	VSV
9		Vice Admiral	Asoka de Silva	1 June 1983	31 October 1986	VSV
10		Admiral	H. A. Silva	1 November 1986	31 October 1991	VSV
11		Admiral	Clancy Fernando †	1 November 1991	16 November 1992	VSV, USP
12		Admiral	D. A. M. R. Samarasekara	16 November 1992	27 November 1997	VSV, USP
13		Admiral	H. C. A. C. Thisera	28 January 1997	31 December 2000	VSV, USP
14		Admiral	Daya Sandagiri	1 January 2001	31 August 2005	VSV, USP
15		Admiral of the Fleet	Wasantha Karannagoda	1 September 2005	15 July 2009	RSP, VSV, USP
16		Admiral	Thisara Samarasinghe	15 July 2009	15 January 2011	RSP, VSV, USP
17		Admiral	D. W. A. S. Dissanayake	15 January 2011	27 September 2012	WV, RSP & Bar, VSV, USP
18		Admiral	Jayanath Colombage	27 September 2012	30 June 2014	RSP, VSV, USP
19		Admiral	Jayantha Perera	1 July 2014	10 July 2015	RWP, VSV, USP
20		Admiral	Ravindra Wijegunaratne	11 July 2015	21 August 2017	WV, RWP & Bar, RSP, VSV, USP
21		Admiral	Travis Sinniah	22 August 2017	26 October 2017	WWV, RWP, RSP (x3), USP
22		Admiral	Sirimevan Ranasinghe	26 October 2017	31 December 2018	WWV, RWP, USP
23		Admiral	Piyal De Silva	1 January 2019	14 July 2020	WWV & Bar, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP
24		Admiral	Nishantha Ulugetenne	15 July 2020	18 Dec 2022	RSP & Bar, VSV, USP
25		Admiral	Priyantha Perera	19 Dec 2022	31 December 2024	RSP **, USP, ndu, psc
26		Vice Admiral	Kanchana Banagoda	31 December 2024	Present	RSP, USP, ndc, psc

See also

• Sri Lanka Navy
• Navy House, Colombo
• Navy House, Trincomalee
• Commander of the Army
• Commander of the Air Force