Vice Admiral P Murugesan, AVSM, VSM assumed charge as Vice Chief of the Naval Staff today (31 Mar 15). In a glittering ceremony held at the South Block lawns earlier dring the day, Vice Admiral P Murugesan was received by Vice Admiral SK Jha, Chief Hydrographer and Commodore VK Garg, station commander Delhi area and a ceremonial Guard of Honour was accorded to him. Vice Admiral P Murugesan was commissioned in the Indian Navy on 01 Jan 1979. He is a recipient of the President’s Gold Medal as a Cadet in the Naval Academy, Sea Cadet’s “Telescope” during Cadet Afloat Training and “Sword of Honour” as a Midshipman. After the initial sea appointments, he specialised in Navigation and Aircraft Direction by securing first position in his class and served onboard frontline fleet ships. He has been the commissioning crew of the first ship of 1241 RE (Veer class missile boats) and has undergone training in Russia. He has held various prestigious operational and staff appointments, both afloat and ashore.
His important operational appointment in the rank of Captain was as the Commanding Officer of the Guided Missile Destroyer INS Ranjit. Under his Command, the ship was deployed to Mozambique as the lead ship of a Task Group comprising two ships to provide maritime security during the conduct of 2nd African Union Heads of Government Summit held at the capital city of Maputo in Jun 03 and accomplished the mission. The ship, during his tenure, was awarded the Chief of Naval Staff Unit Citation for exceptional performance and was adjudged as the Best Ship of Eastern Fleet for the year 2003-04. In other operational appointments, he commissioned the Anti-Submarine Warfare Patrol Vessel INS Agray in Russia and Landing Ship Tank (Large) INS Gharial built at GRSE Kolkata, as their first Commanding Officer in the ranks of Lt Cdr and Commander, respectively. His other key staff appointments in the rank of Commodore include Principal Director Naval Operations. During that tenure he coordinated the navy’s massive Tsunami Relief Operations in Dec 04. He was subsequently appointed as the Naval Attaché, Washington, USA. Earlier, in the rank of Captain, he had served as the Directing Staff in DSSC, Wellington and at College of Naval Warfare, Mumbai. Further, in the rank of Commander, he held the Staff appointments as Deputy Director of Personnel and Naval Assistant to VCNS.
On promotion to the rank of Rear Admiral, he was appointed as Assistant Chief of Personnel (Human Resource Development). Subsequently, he held the Operational Appointment as the Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Fleet from 31 Aug 09 to 24 Jan 11. His other Staff appointment in the rank of Rear Admiral also includes Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Foreign Cooperation & Intelligence). On promotion to the rank of Vice Admiral, he was appointed as Chief of Staff, Western Naval Command in Jan 12 and thereafter took over as the Chief of Personnel at IHQ MoD (N) in Mar 13. Vice Admiral P Murugesan is an alumnus of the Naval Command College, Newport, USA and also attended the Staff Course in the United States of America prior to that. For his distinguished service, Vice Admiral P Murugesan was awarded with Vishist Seva Medal (VSM) and the Ati Vishist Seva Medal (AVSM) in 2008 and 2011 respectively.