Clancy Fernando

Admiral Wannakuwatta Waduge Erwin Clancy Fernando VSV, USP, MNI (In Sinhalese: ක්ලැන්සි ෆර්නැන්ඩෝ; 10 October 1938 – 16 November 1992) was a senior Sri Lanka Navy officer. He served as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy from 1 November 1991 to 16 November 1992, when he was assassinated by the LTTE he was the most senior officer in the Sri Lankan armed forces to be killed in the line of duty.

Early life and education Born on 10 October 1938, Fernando was educated at Prince of Wales' College, Moratuwa, where he was a member of the team Western Band.

Naval career He joined the Royal Ceylon Navy on 17 December 1957 as a cadet officer. After completing five months of basic training, he proceeded for officer training at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, United Kingdom. After one year of training, he was promoted to Midshipman on 1 May 1959. On completion of his training at Dartmouth in July 1960, he was commissioned as an Acting Sub Lieutenant and returned to Ceylon. He was assigned as First Lieutenant to HMCyS Aliya which was part of HMCyS Coastal Forces. From 1963 to 1964 he was the commanding officer of the short patrol boat, HMCyS Diyakawa. He serves with the Royal Ceylon Navy in Trincomalee, Tangalle and Karainagar, serving on board HMCyS Gajabahu, the flagship of the fleet.

He introduced the Sinhala communication system into the navy and authored the book on ‘Customs and etiquettes of Services’. With the introduction of Shanghai Class Fast Gun Boats in to the navy, Lieutenant Commander Fernando served as the commanding officer of SLNS Ranakamee from 1972 to 1973 and then commanded the Shershen-class torpedo boat SLNS Samudra Devi, which was the flagship of the fleet in 1980. In 1977, he attended Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. Promoted to the rank of Commander in March 1978, he was the Commanding Officer of the SLNS Tissa and thereafter SLNS Elara, and served as the Master of the Ceylon Shipping Corporations MV Lanka Kanthi.

Assassination

He was assassinated by a LTTE suicide bomber

Legacy In Sid Meier's Civilization VI, players can recruit Fernando as a Great Admiral.