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. 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. (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==