Eastern Naval Command

Eastern Naval Command पूर्वी नौसेना कमान
INS Jalashwa (L41), flagship of the Eastern Fleet
Country	India
Headquarters	Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
Commanders
Flag Officer Commanding in Chief	Vice Admiral Harish Bisht
FOC Eastern Fleet	Rear Admiral B Dasgupta, YSM, VSM

The Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy is one of its three major formations. It utilizes Visakhapatnam as its headquarters, and has bases there and at Kolkata. It is the first and the largest naval command in India.

Under the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command (FOC-in-C East) is the Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Fleet (FOCEF), Commodore Commanding Submarines (East) (COMCOS (E)), Admiral Superintendent Dockyard for Visakhapatnam, shore establishments, and five Naval Officers-in-Charge (NOICs).

The Eastern naval Command has the states of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, and the island chain of Andaman and Nicobar under its area of responsibility.

The FOC-in-C (East) is the submarine operating authority, under whom Commodore Commanding Submarines (East) [COMCOS (E)] operate. The 11th (Sindhughosh class submarine) and 8th (Foxtrot class) Submarine Squadrons operate under COMCOS (E). INS Virbahu, a submarine base commissioned on 19 May 1971, is the alma matar of the Indian Navy submariners.

The Eastern Naval Command is organized as follows:

The headquarters at Visakhapatnam is also a strategically important dockyard for two nuclear-powered submarines. Due to congestion and heavy shipping traffic, a new 20 square km base INS Varsha is being developed for exclusive naval use about 50 km south of Visakhapatnam.

The Eastern Navy fleet is distributed among its bases at Kolkata, Paradip, Tuticorin, Kakinada and Chennai on the east coast, and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Navy has opened its latest naval air base, INS Baaz, at the southernmost tip of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to secure the strategically important Straits of Malacca, and another naval air station in Kolkata to base an unmanned aerial vehicle squadron.