| Post: | Deputy Chief |
| Body: | the Naval Staff |
| Flag: | Vice Admiral ensign of Indian Navy.svg |
| Flagborder: | yes |
| Flagcaption: | Flag of the Vice Admiral |
| Incumbent: | Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti, AVSM, VSM |
| Incumbentsince: | 1 October 2023 |
| Type: | Principal Staff Officer |
| Status: | 3rd highest ranking naval officer |
| Abbreviation: | DCNS |
| Reports To: | Chief of the Naval Staff |
| Seat: | Naval Headquarters, New Delhi |
The Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (DCNS) is a senior appointment in the Indian Navy. The DCNS is a PSO (Principal Staff Officer) at Naval Headquarters in New Delhi.[1] The office is held by a Three star officer in the rank of Vice Admiral. The current DCNS is Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti who took over Vice Admiral Sanjay Mahindru on 1 October 2023.
At the time of independence of India on 15 August 1947, the Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy was the de facto Second-in-command. The appointment was held by an officer of the rank of Commodore. In 1949, the Chief of Staff was also made Deputy Commander-in-Chief RIN.[2] In 1955, the post was re-designated Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff.[3] In 1959, the post was upgraded to Two-star rank. In 1967, this post was re-designated to Vice Chief of the Naval Staff and then Rear Admiral Sourendra Nath Kohli took over as the first VCNS.[4]
The appointment was brought back in 1972 in the rank of Rear Admiral. The appointment of Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (ACNS) was redesignated DCNS. The DCNS had the directorates of Operations, Intelligence, Signals, Air Staff, Air Materiel and Submarines under him.[5] In 1984, the post was upgraded to three-star rank.[6]
The DCNS heads the Staff Branch-II at the Naval Headquarters. The following Director General/Assistant Principal Staff Officers report into the DCNS.[7]
The DCNS ranks at No. 24 on the Indian order of precedence, along with Lieutenant Generals of the Indian Army and Air Marshals of the Indian Air Force.[8] The DCNS is in the HAG+ pay scale (pay level 16), and draws salary depending on the years in service. However, since they should not draw equivalent or more than the next higher level, the remuneration is capped at ₹224,000.[9] [10]
| S.No. | Name | Assumed office | Left office | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief of Staff to Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy | ||||
| 1 | August 1947 | March 1948 | Seconded from the Royal Navy. Killed in an air crash.[11] | |
| Commodore Ajitendu Chakraverti | March 1948 | November 1948 | Officiating. First Indian officer to be promoted to Commodore. Later Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet.[12] | |
| 2 | November 1948 | February 1949 | Seconded from the Royal Navy.[13] | |
| Deputy Commander-in-Chief | ||||
| 2 | Commodore Harold Drew | February 1949 | February 1952 | Seconded from the Royal Navy.[14] |
| 3 | Commodore Godfrey French | February 1952 | March 1954 | Seconded from the Royal Navy.[15] [16] |
| 4 | Commodore Ram Dass Katari | March 1954 | March 1955 | Later took over as the first Indian Chief of the Naval Staff.[17] |
| Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff | ||||
| 4 | Commodore Ram Dass Katari | April 1955 | March 1956 | Later took over as the first Indian Chief of the Naval Staff.[18] |
| 5 | Commodore Ajitendu Chakraverti | March 1956 | April 1958 | First Indian officer to be promoted to Commodore. Later Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet.[19] |
| 6 | Rear Admiral Adhar Kumar Chatterji | April 1958 | May 1962 | Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[20] |
| 7 | May 1962 | December 1964 | Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[21] | |
| 8 | Rear Admiral Sourendra Nath Kohli | December 1964 | May 1967 | Later Chief of the Naval Staff. |
| S.No. | Name | Assumed office | Left office | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rear Admiral Swaraj Parkash (first tenure) | March 1973 | November 1973 | Later Director General of the Indian Coast Guard.[22] | |
| 2 | Rear Admiral N. P. Datta (first tenure) | November 1973 | April 1974 | [23] | |
| 3 | Rear Admiral Swaraj Parkash (second tenure) | April 1974 | March 1976 | [24] | |
| 4 | Vice Admiral N. P. Datta (second tenure) | March 1976 | November 1977 | [25] [26] | |
| 5 | November 1977 | February 1978 | [27] | ||
| 6 | Rear Admiral D. S. Paintal | February 1978 | October 1980 | [28] | |
| 7 | 4 October 1980 | 20 February 1982 | Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[29] | ||
| 8 | Vice Admiral Subimal Mookerjee | 20 February 1982 | 27 June 1983 | [30] | |
| 9 | 27 June 1983 | 28 November 1984 | [31] | ||
| 10 | Vice Admiral S. Jain | 2 February 1985 | 20 February 1986 | [32] [33] | |
| 11 | 20 February 1986 | 28 November 1987 | Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[34] | ||
| 12 | Vice Admiral R. P. Sawhney | 28 November 1987 | 25 February 1989 | First Fortress Commander, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command.[35] [36] | |
| 13 | 10 March 1989 | 28 December 1990 | Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.[37] | ||
| 14 | Vice Admiral B. Guha | 28 December 1990 | 10 November 1992 | [38] | |
| 15 | 10 November 1992 | 31 December 1994 | Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[39] [40] | ||
| 16 | Vice Admiral Avnish Rai Tandon | 1 January 1995 | 24 April 1996 | [41] | |
| 17 | 24 April 1996 | 30 October 1996 | Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[42] | ||
| 18 | Vice Admiral Vinod Pasricha | 30 October 1996 | 28 February 1998 | [43] [44] | |
| 19 | Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh | March 1998 | March 1999 | [45] | |
| 20 | Vice Admiral Harinder Singh | March 1999 | November 2000 | [46] | |
| 21 | Vice Admiral Raman Puri | 24 November 2000 | January 2002 | [47] [48] | |
| 22 | Vice Admiral S. V. Gopalachari | January 2002 | August 2004 | [49] | |
| 23 | August 2004 | 27 September 2005 | Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[50] | ||
| 24 | 27 September 2005 | 24 July 2006 | Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.[51] | ||
| 25 | Vice Admiral Raman P. Suthan | 24 July 2006 | 26 April 2007 | [52] [53] | |
| 26 | Vice Admiral Anup Singh | 26 April 2007 | 30 November 2009 | Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command[54] | |
| 27 | 30 November 2009 | 16 September 2011 | Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[55] | ||
| 28 | 16 September 2011 | 29 May 2012 | Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.[56] | ||
| 29 | 29 May 2012 | 31 May 2014 | Later Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command.[57] | ||
| 30 | 31 May 2014 | 31 October 2015 | [58] | ||
| 31 | 31 October 2015 | 6 June 2016 | Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[59] | ||
| 32 | 6 June 2016 | 30 January 2019 | Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.[60] | ||
| 33 | 3 January 2019 | 31 May 2021 | [61] | ||
| 34 | 1 June 2021 | 31 March 2022 | [62] | ||
| 35 | 1 April 2022 | 30 September 2023 | [63] | ||
| 36 | 1 October 2023 | Incumbent | [64] |