Daya Shankar

Vice Admiral Daya Shankar PVSM, DSC (2 January 1912 – 18 November 1993) was an Indian Navy admiral, naval engineer and the first Indian Armed Forces officer to hold the appointment of Chief of Materiel and of Controller General Defence Production. Shankar was appointed an engineer sub-lieutenant (on probation) in the Royal Indian Navy on 23 April 1935, and was confirmed in his appointment on 23 October 1936. He was promoted to engineer lieutenant on 23 April 1938.

World War II On 2 August 1939, Shankar was assigned to HMIS Dalhousie, the RIN depot ship and training barracks based at Bombay, as well as to the P-class sloop HMIS Pathan. He was assigned to the sloop HMIS Lawrence on 21 November 1940. Other junior officers then assigned to her were future admiral and Indian Navy Chief of the Naval Staff Sourendra Nath Kohli.

On 10 March 1942, Shankar was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for "courage, enterprise and devotion to duty in operations in the Persian Gulf." He was one of only three Indian officers to be so decorated during the war. On 3 December, he was assigned to the sloop HMIS Hindustan, and was promoted acting engineer lieutenant-commander on 30 September 1943. He was promoted substantive engineer lieutenant-commander on 23 April 1946.

Post-Independence Following Indian independence in 1947, Shankar served at Naval Headquarters and was promoted engineer commander (acting engineer captain) on 31 December 1948. In 1950, he became the second Indian officer to command INS Shivaji, the mechanical training establishment of the Indian Navy,

He was subsequently appointed the Industrial Manager at Naval Dockyard (Bombay), and in July 1954 became the first Indian officer to be appointed Chief of Materiel at Naval HQ. On 24 September 1956, the post of Chief of Material was upgraded to the status of a commodore (2nd class), making Shankar the first Indian naval engineer officer to be elevated to this rank. Flag rank Shankar was promoted to Engineer Rear Admiral on 28 December 1959, becoming the first naval engineering officer to attain flag rank, and was appointed Controller-General Ordnance Factories.