Twentieth century witnessed emergence of Visakhapatnam as a major transit port of cargo on the eastern seaboard. On December 12, 1939, during the second Word War, the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) established a small office at Visakhapatnam. This office was commissioned as RINS Circars and, in due course of time, this base became the nucleus around which the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) evolved and rapidly expanded as a formidable maritime force on the east coast of the country.

The Eastern Naval Command extends over the vast expanse of the Bay of Bengal, parts of Malacca Strait and into the Indian Ocean, south of the equator up to 16 degrees south latitude. The eastem seaboard has a coastline of 2,600 km with an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 1.3 million square kilometres where the marine resources can be exploited by India only. India shares the strategically important Bay of Bengal with six other littoral countries namely Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh. The major ports on the eastern seaboard are Kolkata, Haldia, Paradip, Visakhapatnam, Chennai and Tuticorin and, more recently, Ennore has joined the league. The importance of this region is easily perceivable as it stands astride one of the world’s busiest sea-lanes of communication.

The primary role of ENC is to safeguard against aggression on the eastern front and provide security to the Indian territory, ports, harbours, oil platforms and other maritime assets and resources in our Exclusive Economic Zone.

Over 200 merchant ships, carrying vital cargo including 10 million barrels of crude oil, transit through the Malacca Strait every day. These vessels depend on the Indian Navy for their safe passage. ENC also assists the Coast Guard in anti- poaching and search and rescue operations in these waters. Showing a sustained presence of the Naval forces in the area of responsibility is thus another vital functional requirement of the command.

Navy being an important instrument of foreign policy, the ships of the Eastern Fleet undertake regular goodwill visits to foreign countries, specially in South East Asia and the Indian Ocean. These visits boost the nation’s image and promote friendship and co-operation with neighbouring countries. The personnel of the Eastern Fleet during these goodwill visits act as true ambassadors of India.

The Eastern Fleet initially comprised the aircraft carrier-INS Vikrant, a few escort ships and some amphibious ships. Today, the Fleet has a wide range of ships. These include formidable Rajput class guided missile destroyers, indigenously built missile corvettes, anti-submarine Petya class ships, landing ships of large and medium lift capacity and offshore patrol vessels. The Eastern Naval Command is also a home for the submarine arm often called the silent sentinels. The birth of the submarine arm as an integral part of the maritime force took shape when the idea was set rolling in 1959. INS Kalvari was the first submarine of the Indian Navy to get commissioned in 1967. In 1971, INS Virbahu was commissioned as the country’s first submarine base for shore support providing all amenities to submarines in harbour. Today, Visakhapatnam has two submarine squadrons, Submarine Training School INS Satavahana, Submarine Headquarters and a full-fledged submarine repair facility undertaking refits as well as second and third-line repairs of submarines.