Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda ( 10 October 1915 – 11 May 2009 ) was an Indian Navy admiral who served as the 8th Chief of the Naval Staff from 1 March 1970 until 28 February 1973 . He led the Indian Navy during the Indo - Pakistani War of 1971 and successfully executed a naval blockade of both West and East Pakistan , helping India achieve an overwhelming victory during the war . Early life . Nanda was born on October 10 , 1915 in Punjab . He was raised on Manora Island at the entrance to the Port of Karachi . He was the eldest of seven children . Prior to joining the navy , Nanda had worked for the Karachi Port Trust . Naval career . Nanda enlisted into the Royal Indian Navy Volunteer Reserve during World War II on 11 October 1941 . He stayed in the Navy despite rapid , large - scale demobilization at the end of the war . After independence in 1947 , he opted to join the Indian Navy . In 1948 , he was appointed First Lieutenant on board under the command of Captain H . N . S Brown , with then Lieutenant Commander Ram Dass Katari as his Executive Officer . From 1949 to 1951 , he served as the Director of Personnel Services . In 1951 , he took command of the R class destroyer , . He was also the commanding officer of the navy ' s Frigate Squadron . He was later transferred back to Naval Headquarters as Chief of Personnel . He was promoted to Commodore in 1957 , and sent to England to commission the Fiji class cruiser , , as her Commanding Officer . Later , he was appointed Director General of the Naval Dockyards and undertook a major expansion of the dockyards . He then attended the Imperial Defence College and was appointed Chief of Materials upon his return . Nanda was promoted to Rear Admiral and appointed Deputy Chief of Naval Staff in May 1962 . He was appointed Managing Director of Mazagon Dock Limited in December 1964 and undertook preparations for the construction of Nilgiri class frigate s , the first major naval vessels to be constructed in India . Given the difficulty India had in negotiating the purchase of from the UK , Nanda supported the acquisition of equipment from the Soviet Union . The 1962 Sino - Indian War was largely fought over the Himalayas and the Navy did not have a major role . During the Indo - Pakistani War of 1965 , the Navy was ordered to stay within Indian waters . When the Pakistani Navy bombarded Dwarka , Nanda recognized the need to raise the Navy ' s profile and capabilities . Chief of Naval Staff . In March 1970 , Admiral Nanda took command as the 8th Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy . He was determined to change the mindset of the service from defence to attack . He got the opportunity to demonstrate this capability the following year during the war with Pakistan . Nanda was instrumental in framing India ' s Naval strategy during the war . He feigned a defensive deployment southeast towards the Andaman Islands , instead moving his Eastern fleet northwards into the Bay of Bengal and enforcing a naval blockade against East Pakistan . His strategy against West Pakistan was to strike hard against Pakistan ' s main port of Karachi . He is recognized as the mastermind behind Operation Trident and Operation Python . The plan for the operations included towing the limited - range Vidyut class missile boat s , primarily designed for coastal defence , to about south of Karachi during the day , out of range of the Pakistan Air Force aircraft . The missile boats then closed in on Karachi port at night and attacked naval targets as well as the oil tank farm at Keamari . Operation Trident was successfully executed on 4 December 1971 , sinking the Pakistani Navy destroyer PNS Khaibar , minesweeper PNS Muhafiz , an ammunition carrying ship " MV Venus Challenger " and irreparably damaging another destroyer PNS Shah Jahan as well as destroying numerous oil storage tanks . Operation Python was again successfully carried out on 8 December 1971 . On the Eastern front , Nanda made the decision to deploy the aircraft carrier INS " Vikrant " into the shallower waters of the Gulf of Bengal off Dhaka , to prevent the risk of a submarine attack . When concerns were raised about Vikrant ' s boilers being cracked , he took personal responsibility for the risk of a boiler explosion and catapult failure on the carrier . His gambit paid off , as Vikrant was able to successfully enforce the blockade of East Pakistan without any such damage to the carrier . The success of the naval blockades on two fronts is considered one of the primary factors in India ' s overwhelming victory during the war . Admiral Nanda retired from the Indian Navy in 1973 . Awards . Admiral Nanda was revered in the Indian Navy for his bold decision - making and for frequently defeating bureaucracy in his quest to improve the living conditions of his sailors and their families . For his heroism at sea , he was at times called India ' s Nelson . He was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 1961 and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 1966 . He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1972 . Later life . Following his retirement , Nanda took an executive role with Crown Corporation , an arms trading firm headed by his son Suresh Nanda , which specialized in supply of imported weapons to the Indian Armed Forces . Nanda ' s reputation was tarnished by the involvement of his family in several high profile controversies , two of which involved allegations of corruption and payment of bribes to Indian government officials for facilitating arms sales . A third case was an attempt at a cover - up by his son and grandson in a hit - and - run drunk driving accident , in which three policemen and three other individuals were killed at a police checkpoint by a speeding BMW driven by his grandson Sanjeev Nanda . Death . Admiral Nanda died in New Delhi on 11 May 2009 at the age of 93 . His funeral was marked with full military honours , but not as well attended as his naval career mandated due to the involvement of his family in controversial cases .