A Case Study in Leadership

Vice Admiral Nilakantan

Krishnan, Padma Bhushan, PVSM,

DSC

SYNDICATE C

•Mid Nitin Sharma•Mid Jay Prakash Jha•Mid Paul S Moses•Mid Krishna Kumar Singh•Cdt Nitheesh K S

EARLY LIFE

• Admiral Krishnan (also known as Krish) has the distinction of having seen live action on all the seven seas.

• First with the Royal Navy as part of the Home Fleet (later known as the  Royal Indian Navy) and subsequently, post independence in the Indian Navy.

• He is one of the most decorated officer of the INDIAN NAVY

EARLY LIFE

• Born on 08 June 1919.

• Had no plans of joining Navy.

• Says that his life just steered towards this direction.

• Joined training ship ‘Duffrin’ in 1935.

• Thereafter joined Royal Indian Navy in 1939.

The Journey in NAVY

• Duffrin

• Erabus

• HMS Vindictive (Mobile Training Ship)

• HMS Foxhound (Destroyer)

• HMS Suffolk

• HMS Repulse (Cruiser)

• HMS Investigator (Survey)

• Yaasra (Tug)

The Journey in NAVY• Baroda (Trawler)

• HMS Emerald

• HMS Ceylon

• INS Delhi (CO)

• INS Vikrant (CO)

• Chief Of Planning & Intelligence

• NEC Lonavala

• C-in-C West

• C-in-C East

• First CMD of CSL

ACHIEVEMENTS, AWARDS & CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• Capturing Iranian Gunboat, awarded DSC.

• Commissioning crew of INS Delhi (HMS Achilles).

• Liberation of Goa & Daman & Diu from Portuguese.

• Chief of Planning & Intelligence where he contributed in formulation of Indian Navy’s ten year plan after Independence.

• Sinking Of PNS Ghazi and subsequent surrender of Pakistani forces.

INCIDENT ONBOARD TUG YAASRA

• In 1939, an incident onboard tug yaasra showed the genuine liking , affection and friendship which he had.

• He refused to use the wardroom.

• He slept on the deck of tug Yaasra for 3-4 days along with the sailors.

• Encounter with a Persian Navy gun-boat, he boarded and captured the gun boat without any casualties!

CAMARADERIE

• He always believed in his men.

• When he was gunnery officer onboard HMS Investigator.

• He used to train sailors himself at an uninhabited island, Kuwait.

• They used to play land warfare

• An incident from England

• German bombers decided to attack ports and harbors at night.

• He always preferred or rather welcomed his turn of duty of roof watching.

• His thinking was like” no matter, if your number is up and if you have to go, then, like to the lavatory, you’ve got to go!”

FEARLESSNESS

LEADING FROM FRONT

• An incident from Persian gulf.

• He made two groups of four men each.

• First group led by him.

• His group would board the barge from the forward and the second group after giving cover fire would board from aft.

COURAGE

• Most important quality of any leader• Joined mercantile marine training ship Dufferin in 1935• Compulsory boxing tournament at the end of first term• His opponent was the best boxer in the ship• 2 options• Fought him well• Came out as winner• Swore to himself : he will never be afraid of another

man as long as he is alive

HARD WORKING AND ABILITY TO ADAPT TO THE SITUATION

• Got the idea of joining RIN• Worked hard for the exam• Correspondence course through his letters to his

father• No engineering entry• Didn’t give up• Wrote the exam• Secured the first rank

RESPECT FOR SENIORS

• HMS Foxhound• Captain : Lt Cdr Philip Haddow• “ A ship can be happy and efficient by the personal

charm ,leadership, competence and human considerations of the captain”• He learned that sailors need affection and will

respond to it like children

SECURITY MINDEDNESS

• September 1940 : German started night bombing• Crucial time of the war• Attended a Party in London• A person in civil clothing started asking him questions• He suspected him as a spy• Burning with indignation he refused to answer• Then he was introduced to the person that it was Air

marshal Sir Hugh Dowding Commander In Chief fighter command Royal Air force

LOVE FOR THE ORGANIZATION

• His dedication for the Navy was surpassed only by his love for the country• From the letters he had written to his father his

love for the organization is clearly evident• He often said “ If you cut open my chest you will

see four letters written in bold : N-A-V-Y ”

PERSIAN BATTLE INCIDENT- 1941

EVENTS

• Sailed into HMS investigator on 20 January 1941 commanded by commander Paine as gunnery officer

• Indian sailors subjected to blatant act of discrimination

• Realising the same, he would spend most of his time with sailors encouraging them to be bound towards the ultimate goal

• Never made them feel different by virtue of his actions

EVENTS

• Took command of a tug along with Indian soldiers which was to act as tender to Australian frigate HMAS Yaasra

• Tug was tied to stern of Yaasra and were made to live under extremely cramped and unhygienic conditions

• His request to let his sailors sleep onboard the frigate was turned down

• He therefore declined the offer to his availing of the wardroom and messing facilities of HMAS Yaasra

EVENTS• Several events had been planned to move into persia

in unison , in a surprise attack on that country

• The tug had to lead the way and give information about the whereabouts of four iranian gunboats

• The combined fleet consisted of frigates falmouth (royal navy), Yaasra (Royal Australian navy) and investigator (RIN)

• The objective was to destroy four gunboats

• Tug had to proceed in advance but had no armament

• The officer opted to go with the tug enthusiastically

EVENTS

• The tug arrived near the gunboats at as early as 2 am

• The fleet arrived at 4 am without investigator (rin) as it had some problems

• In its absence, the tug was bestowed with some extra duties

• As thE bombardment started, the first of gunboats was destroyed

• Somehow, the tug went close to the enemy ship in darkness.

• Before they could realise, the tug was alarmingly close to enemy ship.

EVENTS• In the wake of the circumstances, he decided to

board the ship along with his men and he was the first to jump in

• He made a execution plan but during the course of the operation, he lost one of his sailors

• He continued with the operation and did not stop

• He commanded and directed his men for every step they took

• There were more than 20 enemies on ship but his group consisted of only 5 men

EVENTS• He closed the hatches to restrict the movement of

people inside the ship

• He neutralised almost 4 of them

• He had a narrow escape when a bullet almost touched his head

• He captured the captain and made the remaining people surrender themselves

• Highest level of courage and wisdom was shown by the officer in the entire operation

BAY OF BENGAL OPERATIONS AND THE SINKING OF GHAZI

VISION

• He Knew that war was eminent, acted promptly.

• Laid out plans of blockade of East Pakistan.

• Laid out tough training programs for the Eastern fleet.

• Also took an initiative to conduct exercises with Army .

• But he knew his options and kept each of them available and ready if need be.

• Ensured readiness in all aspects.

SELF BELIEF

• He respectfully disapproved the plans of NHQ of moving Vikrant to Bombay and boldly described the consequences.

• Showing the quality of TACT.

• Nobody could have blamed him for any untoward happening.

• He would officially be following the decisions taken by his seniors in the chain.

• Challenged the way things are and stood out.

CLARITY IN SPEECH

• This apt explanation gave his message an upper hand

• Though the signal again was against his request.

• But as understandable the cruciality of the situation was, his request was finally approved.

LEADING FROM THE FRONT

• Personally went onboard ships and oversaw the exercise.

• Could have appointed some flag officer for doing the overseeing and could have stayed at home.

HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SUBORDINATES

• Capt Swaraj Prakash and his crew had a very good understanding of his views and shared his joy .

• Even in his early career , he used to take care of all subordinates.

• He maintained good trust in the subordinates as a leader .

INNOVATIVE

• Planned and perfectly deceived Pakistan to believe that INS Vikrant was in Vizag .

• Expecting for the worst and was well planned even the worst case scenario.

• Once Ghazi had been sunk

• He used a very motivating sentence and the sentence was relayed to all ships.

• Focused on People and Emotions .

REFERENCES

• A Sailors Story – VADM N Krishnan, Padma Bhushan, DSC, PVSM.