A NAVAL ICON - ADMIRAL RONNIE PEREIRA

A quote well known in the Navy is that of George Bernard Shaw which goes as follows-

"Men go into the Navy thinking they will enjoy it,

They do enjoy it for a year, at least the stupid ones do, riding back and forth quite dully on ships....

Gradually they become crazy, then they become crazier and crazier....

They are the ones who become Captains....

And the maddest of them become Admirals."

Seriously, becoming an Admiral is no joke and 'maddest' could perhaps be amended to read 'most capable'. We have had some outstanding ones like Admiral Chatterji who, as Director of Naval Plans at the age of 32, envisioned a two aircraft carrier Indian Navy way back in 1947. It took 40 years for his vision to come true. As Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), he was responsible for the acquisition of missile boats which were brilliantly employed by his successor Admiral Nanda, a great strategist, to bring Pakistan and its Navy to its knees.

This year, 2023, marks the birth centenary and 30 years of passing away of another exceptional Admiral, RL Pereira, CNS 1979-82. He was a born leader. Blessed with good height and build and handsome features, he had an impressive personality, always smiling but oozing authority. His honesty and integrity were beyond question even in golf where most people turn a blind eye to any transgression made by their caddies. Not Ronnie P (as he called himself), who broke his hand slapping a caddie who had kicked his ball to a better lie. Ronnie was completely unassuming and would walk into the wardroom bar like any other officer and sign not only for his own drink but for all around him.

He was very accessible and anyone could go and see him without an appointment in office or at home. He would inspire all under him to give off their best as evident by the fact that a ship under his command always won the Fleet Pulling Regatta, considered the ultimate test of morale of a ship's company. There is the often told story that when he was commanding the cruiser Delhi, his Best Whaler crew mistakenly rowed to victory in the wrong race and were disqualified. They had to row again immediately after in their correct race but were completely exhausted. Ronnie himself took over as Coxswain and exhorted them to victory that got them the coveted trophy, the Cock.

With all that, Ronnie was a strict disciplinarian and had a fine sense of right and wrong. Any lapse would earn an exemplary punishment. But Ronnie also had a heart of gold and once the punishment was awarded, Ronnie would forgive and give the man a fair chance to redeem himself. When he was commanding the Eastern Fleet, a Lieutenant commanding a patrol craft was dismissed from service and put in prison. Ronnie addressed his Fleet COs and said that while the youngster had rightly been punished for his offence, he was still one of 'us' and each ship in turn would send a meal daily to the officer in jail. 

In another case when he was the Deputy Commandant in the National Defence Academy, a cadet was relegated by a term for some offence. However, in a French Exam, he had come first and was entitled for a prize. The Principal withheld the prize but Ronnie ordered all the cadets to assemble and personally presented the cadet his due award with an apology that the prize was not awarded earlier.

Ronnie had a great sense of humour too. When he was CNS and I was Director Naval Signals (DNS), quite often there were complaints from senior officers' about their telephones not working. Although I had little to do with P & T, the blame would be put on my shoulders and I would be at the receiving end of their anger. One morning, I saw a cartoon in a paper showing a man on a telephone with the caption, "This is the Director P & T. Your telephone is working and you haven't thanked me yet." I changed 'Director P & T' to 'DNS' and inserted a copy of the cartoon in the senior officers' morning signals pack. The only person to react was Ronnie who rang up and said, "Ravi, my phone is working, thank you very much" followed by a full-throated guffaw.

I knew him well as I had the privilege of serving as Fleet Communications Officer when he was commanding the Eastern Fleet and playing golf with him. Ronnie had all the qualities of leadership and a lot of charisma. He was a true naval icon.

 

P.S. There was another Admiral, a colleague of Ronnie's of about the same seniority with many similarities who would also be considered by many to have been a naval icon. I hope to write about him some day.