Manohar Prahlad Awati

Early life Awati was born to a family of academics in Surat. His father, Prahlad Raoji Awati, was a distinguished zoologist who later became a professor of zoology at the Royal Institute of Science, Mumbai. He joined the Indian Mercantile Marine Training Ship (IMMTS) Dufferin and graduated second in the order of merit of his course. He was offered a commission in the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) in 1945.

Naval career Early career He graduated from the Britannia Royal Naval College in early 1946 with prizes in seamanship and navigation. He then trained on board the which was converted into a training ship after World War II. He subsequently was transferred to the . After his training, Awati returned to India, choosing to specialise as a Signals and Communications officer. As a young lieutenant, he received the colours of the Indian Navy on 27 May 1950 from the then President of India, Rajendra Prasad, at a ceremony where the RIN was renamed the Indian Navy. He subsequently served onboard the R-class destroyer .

In 1957, the was being refitted and modernised in Birkenhead, Liverpool to be commissioned as . Mysore was commissioned on 29 August 1957 by the High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit and the commissioning commanding officer was Captain S. M. Nanda. Awati was appointed the ship's signal and communications officer (SCO). He was promoted to lieutenant commander on 16 May 1958.

In May 1959, he was selected to attend the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. Promoted to commander on 31 December 1962, he went on to command the cadet training ship INS Tir, the destroyer INS Ranjit, and the ASW frigate INS Kamorta.

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was sparked by the Bangladesh Liberation war, a conflict between the traditionally dominant West Pakistanis and the majority East Pakistanis. In 1970, East Pakistanis demanded autonomy for the state, but the Pakistani government failed to satisfy these demands and, in early 1971, a demand for secession took root in East Pakistan. In March, the Pakistan Armed Forces launched a fierce campaign to curb the secessionists, the latter including soldiers and police from East Pakistan. Thousands of East Pakistanis died, and nearly ten million refugees fled to West Bengal, an adjacent Indian state. In April, India decided to assist in the formation of the new nation of Bangladesh.

Awati was in command of the 31 Patrol Vessel Squadron and its lead ship - the . The squadron was part of the Eastern Fleet and based in the Bay of Bengal. He was decorated with the Vir Chakra for his command of the Kamorta. The citation for the Vir Chakra reads as follows:

Post-War career After the war, he was appointed the Naval Officer-in-Charge, Goa, in 1972, where he was the founding President of the Goa Yachting Association. His tenure at Goa was abruptly interrupted when he was ordered to proceed to Mumbai to take over as the commanding officer of the , which had a mutiny on board in 1973. In 1975, he attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in the United Kingdom.

Flag rank After his return to India, he was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral. Subsequently, he was appointed Commandant of the National Defence Academy. His next posting was as the Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF). During that tenure, he set up the Maritime History Society of India, in 1978.

Post-Retirement Awati presenting the .38 caliber webley revolver to Commandant NDA VAdm G. Ashok Kumar. An avid ecologist, Awati created a scrub jungle in his native village, Vinchurni. This led to the construction of the sail training boats INSV Mhadei and INSV Tarini. In 2010, Commander Dilip Donde of the Indian navy completed the first recorded solo circumnavigation by an Indian. He was followed by Commander Abhilash Tomy, who became the first Indian, and the second Asian, to do a non-stop solo circumnavigation under sails around the world.