JB Simmons
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Commander John Berchman Simmons |
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|---|---|
 |
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| Nickname(s) | Dick |
| Born |
1 July 1917 Bombay, British India |
| Died | 2001 Mumbai |
| Allegiance |
 India
|
| Service/branch |
Royal Indian Navy Indian Navy |
| Years of service | 1941-1957 |
| Commands held |
HMIS Bombay (J249) INS Venduruthy Naval Barracks, Bombay |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
JB Simmons (born 1 July 1917) was a former Royal Indian Navy officer.
John Berchman Simmons, or other known by his nickname "Dick", attended Cathedral School in Bombay and merited a Government scholarship in 1933.
He passed the Senior Cambridge Examination in 1935 and joined A.F. Ferguson & Co, Chartered Accountants, in 1936 as an apprentice for five years.
He did a commercial course at Sydenham College of Commerce & Economics, Bombay and completed his articles in April 1941.
He married Dr Charlotte Fernandes - who was a paediatrician and published her own children's health medical journal - whose father was Braz Anthony Fernandes. They had one daughter, Bernadette, who married Ivan Trayling.
Simmons joined the Royal Indian Navy Volunteer Reserve on 1 May 1941 - in World War II - as an Executive Sub-Lieutenant. Although he was better qualified to join the Navy as a Paymaster, he requested that he be allowed to join the Executive Branch as it was from this Branch that future Captains of the Fleet were selected and leadership was one of the main qualities required. His request was accepted.
Prior to being given his first sea billet he topped the examination lists in subjects such as Signals & Navigation, competing against Officers.
During the War, the long experience gained at sea was mostly under war conditions.
He was appointed 1st Lieutenant (2nd in Command) of a ship in late 1942, the INS Kalvati. Although there was a Lieutenant of the Executive Branch also serving on the ship who was more senior, he was selected as the more capable Second-In-Command, which required permission from Naval Headquarters. For two years he was attached to the Arabian-Bengal-Ceylon Escort Group and took part in innumerable conoys in the Indian Ocean when the Japanese Fleet, and later submarines and aircraft were active in this area. His ship was on patrol of the Arakan Coast, at the time when Burma was under Japanese occupation. Prior to the invasion of Burma, he was a member of the team of Officers who made a survey of the beaches and approaches to the Arakan Coast, in order to facilitate the landings that were planned by the Army Command.
At the close of hostilities in 1945 Simmons applied to transfer to the permanent cadre of the Indian Navy for a Permanent Commission. After going before the Services Selection Board at Lonavala, he was selected.
In 1945 Simmons was given his first sea-going command, the INS Nasik, subsequently taking over INS Investigator, Hindustan and Assam. Prior to proceeding abroad in 1948 he held the appointment of Staff Officer Appoints on the Staff of Rear Admiral Battery Flag Officer Bombay and later was appointed First Lieutenant of the Naval Barracks. During this period he carried out the duties of Commander Barracks in addition to his duties as First Lieutenant, for two months, until a Commander was appointed to the post.
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