Nilakanta Krishnan

Vice Admiral Nilakanta Krishnan PVSM, DSC
Born	(1919-06-08)8 June 1919[1] Nagercoil, Madras State (now Tamil Nadu), British India
Died	30 January 1982(1982-01-30) (aged 62)[2] Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh,[2] India
Allegiance	British India (1938–1947)  India (1947–1976)
Service/branch	Royal Indian Navy  Indian Navy
Years of service	1938–1976
Rank	Vice Admiral
Commands held	Eastern Naval Command Western Naval Command INS Vikrant INS Delhi INS Tir
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Annexation of Goa World War II
Awards	Padma Bhushan Param Vishisht Seva Medal Distinguished Service Cross
Other work	Chairman and Managing Director, Cochin Shipyard Limited

Vice Admiral Nilakanta Krishnan, PVSM, DSC (8 June 1919 – 30 January 1982), was a former flag officer in the Indian Navy. He was the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War.

Born in a Tamil Brahmin family in Nagercoil, Krishnan joined the Training Ship Dufferin in 1935, where his batchmate was Jal Cursetji. After training on various ships of the Royal Navy, he was posted to the survey ship HMIS Investigator. During the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in August 1941, Krishnan boarded and captured an Iranian gunboat after a firefight. For this action, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the first awarded to the Royal Indian Navy.

Following the Independence of India, Krishnan served as Staff Officer Plans and later as Director of Naval Plans and Intelligence at Naval headquarters. He subsequently attended the Joint Services Staff College, Latimer and appointed Deputy Naval Advisor at High Commission of India in London. In 1951, he returned to India and commanded the 31st minesweeping squadron and subsequently the training ship INS Tir, which represented India at the Coronation review of the fleet. Krishnan subsequently served as the Director of Personnel Services at NHQ and Deputy Secretary (Military Wing) in the Cabinet Secretariat. Krishnan then commanded INS Delhi during the Annexation of Goa and the Navy's Engineering College INS Shivaji. In 1963, he took over as the second commanding officer of the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. After attending the Imperial Defence College in 1965, he took over as the Naval advisor to the High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom.

Promoted to flag rank in 1967, Krishnan was appointed the second Vice Chief of the Naval Staff. He subsequently commanded the Western Naval Command and then the Eastern Naval Command. He is credited with using a very innovative strategy, while commanding the Eastern Navy which had the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, in the Bay of Bengal. He is believed to have tricked the Pakistani submarine PNS Ghazi, which was on a search and destroy mission, into entering Visakhapatnam; where it was eliminated.^[3] He was present at the Ramna Race Course when the Pakistani Instrument of Surrender was signed by Lieutenant General A. A. K. Niazi. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award apart from the Param Vishisht Seva Medal.