HMS Choudri

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(Redirected from
H.M.S. Choudhry
)
Not to be confused with
HMS Chaudiere
.

VAdm Afzal Rahman Khan
Personal details
Born
Mohammad Siddiq Choudri

1912
British Subject (1921–1947)
Pakistan (1947–2005)
Alma materRashtriya Indian Military College
Britannia Royal Naval College
Civilian awards Hilal-e-Pakistan
Nickname(s)HMS Choudhir
Admiral Choudhri
Military service
Branch/service Royal Indian Navy (1930–1947)
Pakistan Navy (1947–59)
Years of service1930–1959
Rank Vice Admiral (S/No. PN-001)
UnitNavy Executive Branch
CommandsCommander Pakistan Fleet
Deputy C-in-C (Operations)
Battles/wars
Military awards
Hilal-e-Imtiaz (military)
Order of the British Empire

Commander in Chief of Pakistan Navy.[2][3]

In 1953, he was appointed as second

Presidency on 26 January 1959.[4] He was one of the only few military officials who resigned from their commission over the disagreement with the civilian government and was eventually succeeded by Vice-Admiral A. R. Khan on 28 February 1959.[5]

He died on 27 February 2004 and was buried in military graveyard in Karachi with full military honors.[6]

Early life

Haji Mohammad Choudhri was born in

British India in 1912 in an Arain family[1] He is the cousin of Dr Raees M Mushtaq's Father. Very little is known about his early life which based on combined military history of India and Pakistan. As many of contemporaries in the British Indian military, he was educated at the Rashtriya Indian Military College and later joined the Britannia Royal Naval College in the United Kingdom.[7]

Naval career

Early career

He was among the first

commissioned a midshipman in the Royal Indian Navy's Executive Branch in 1931.[7] On 1 September 1933, he was promoted to sub-lieutenant,[8] receiving promotion to lieutenant on 1 September 1936.[9] On 24 May 1938, he was assigned to the escort vessel HMIS Lawrence as its first lieutenant and was serving in this position at the outbreak of war in 1939; the future Indian Navy CNS Sourendra Nath Kohli served under him as a sub-lieutenant.[10]

World War II

He was trained as

officer's appointments both at sea and with land-based naval formations before and after the World War II.[11][12] At the outset of the war, he saw action against the Italian Regia Marina in the Red Sea and off the Somali coasts. In 1942, he was sent to Britain where he qualified as a specialist officer in the Torpedo Branch. He then went to the United States in 1943, delivering lectures on the role of the Royal Indian Navy.[13]

On 25 March 1944, Choudhri was promoted to acting lieutenant-commander and given command of the minesweeper HMIS Rohilkand.

lieutenant-commander, the first Indian to become a substantive senior line officer in the RIN.[15] He participated in the Pacific theatre against the Imperial Japanese Navy.[12] On 10 February 1945, he was promoted to acting commander and assigned to the sloop HMIS Godavari as its executive officer.[16] In the 1945 Birthday Honours List, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, Military Division (MBE).[17] He witnessed the Japanese surrender in 1945 and commanded a naval division that consisted of the two-ship formation that represented the Royal Indian Navy.[12] After the war, Choudhri served on the Armed Forces Nationalisation Committee, and was promoted to acting captain in July 1947.[13]

Post-Independence

In 1947, Choudhri served on the committee that was involved in the division of the RIN's assets between India and Pakistan.: 54 

Rear-Admiral J.W. Jefford.: 51–52 [21] Jefford's retirement was due in 1951 and favoured continuously appointing the British officers in the armed forces.: 51 [21]

Commander-in-Chief

The

NHQ where he established staff corps and administration.: 53 [21]

Although, the

Ayub Khan.: 82 [22]: 93–94 [23] He was promoted as rear admiral and assumed the command of the navy with an objective of expanding navy's resources and infrastructure.: 54 [21]

In 1951, Admiral Choudri decided to build the submarines and warships at the

Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works, relaying his plans to the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Finance, but was told by the civilian planners that the "second-hand ships from the United Kingdom would be better off for Pakistan", that eventually led the Navy to rely on the obsolete vessels that had to be acquire from the United Kingdom.: 155–156 [24]

From 1953 to 1956, he bitterly negotiated with the

U.S. government to provide monetary support for modernization of aging O–class destroyers and minesweepers, while commissioning the Ch–class destroyers from British Navy.: 54 [21]

In 1955, Admiral Choudhri cancelled and disbanded the

Royal Navy's officers[26]

In 1956, Admiral Choudhri sent recommendations for the construction of the seaport in Ormara and a naval base that would linked the Sonmiani but it was bypassed Ministry of Shipping that cited financial constraints.[27]

In 1957, he finalize the sale of

General Ayub.: 57 [21]

Resignation

In 1958, his

military relations with the United States.: 57 [21] The MoD did sanctioned to pay off the costly PNS Baber but halted the crucial funds for the operations of the navy which had been assembled since 1956.: 57 [21]

In another

President Mirza to resolve the interservice rivalry between the army and navy but it was ended with "stormy interview" with the President.: 57 [21]

Upon returning to NHQ, Admiral Choudhry decided to tender his resignation to broke the

command of the navy on 26 January 1959 and cited to President: "major decision [which] have been taken with disagreement with the technical advice I have consistently tendered.... concerning the concept of our defence, the appointment of our available budget, and the size and shape of our Navy.": 57 [21]

In 1958,

naval chief by President Mirza.: 104 [31]

Post-retirement and death

After retiring from Navy, he went on to establish

shipping trade throughout his life.[6] After retiring from Navy in 1959, he founded and became director of Pakistan Institute of Maritime Affairs (PIMA) which he remained associated with until his death in 2004.[32][33]

He avoided

1999.[6] He died of old age on 27 February 2004 and was buried in a military graveyard in Karachi.[6]

In his honor, the government established the "HMS Choudhri Memorial Hall" at the National Defence University in Islamabad in 2005.[34]

References

  1. ^ a b Aqil A. Jafri, Pakistan Chronicle, Virsa Publications, Karachi p.925.
  2. The Nation
    . Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  3. ^ "Navy News" (PDF). Pakistan Navy. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Pakistan Navy Chronology". Pakistan Navy. Archived from the original on 29 October 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  5. ^ Tiwana, Malik Ayaz Hussain. "Pakistan: Security Concerns and the Navy". Defence Journal. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  6. ^ a b c d "Karachi: HMS Choudri laid to rest". Dawn. 1 March 2004. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  7. ^
    ISBN 978-9-3504-8778-5
    . Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  8. ^ "No. 33978". The London Gazette. 15 September 1933. p. 6018.
  9. ^ "No. 34332". The London Gazette. 16 October 1936. p. 6614.
  10. ^ "The Royal Indian Navy - Establishments". The Navy List. HM Government. September 1939. p. 624.
  11. ^ Wasay, Rear Admiral Khalid (9 March 2004). "Vice-Admiral Choudri". Dawn. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  12. ^ a b c d Askari, M. H. (29 February 2004). "HMS Choudri: crusader for peace". Dawn. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  13. ^ a b "Higher Ranks for Indian Officers of the R.I.N." (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 21 July 1947. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  14. ^ "The Royal Indian Navy - Establishments". The Navy List. HM Government. October 1944. p. 3239.
  15. ^ "No. 37076". The London Gazette. 11 May 1945. p. 2492.
  16. ^ "The Royal Indian Navy - Establishments". The Navy List. HM Government. July 1945. p. 3436.
  17. ^ "No. 37119". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 June 1945. p. 2941.
  18. ISBN 1897829116
    . Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  19. ^
    ISBN 978-0-3933-1898-2
    . Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  20. ^ a b Kazi, KGN (11 January 2011). "The first few executive officers transferred to the Pakistan Navy on Partition". Flickr. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  21. ^
    ISBN 978-1-8978-2902-8
    . Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  22. ^
    ISBN 978-1-3492-0942-2
    . Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  23. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8147-1633-5
    . Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  24. ISBN 978-0-1982-9281-4
    . Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  25. ISBN 0198292813
    . Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  26. ^ a b c Hussain, Hamid (June 2002). "Tale of a love affair that never was: United States-Pakistan Defence Relations". Defence Journal of Pakistan. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  27. ^ Arbab, Lt.Cdr. Tufail Akhtar. "Pakistan Navy at the helm of new millennium". Defence Journal. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  28. ^ Hussain, Hamid (March 2002). "National Security Decision Making Process". Defence Journal. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  29. ^ Ghani, Nadia (11 July 2010). "Non-Fiction: The Narcissist". Dawn. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  30. ISBN 978-0-9815-3789-4-
    . Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  31. ISBN 978-0-2305-9904-8
    . Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  32. ^ "Those who left us during 2004: HMS Choudri". Jang.com. Archived from the original on 20 May 2010. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  33. ^ Cowasjee, Ardeshir (4 September 2005). "Admiral of the Chinese fleet". Dawn. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  34. ^ "'Religion and state should not interfere in each other's functioning'". The News International. 16 November 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2016.

External links

Military offices
Preceded by
Commander-in-Chief, Pakistan Navy

1953–1959 		Succeeded by
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