The first chief of Indian navy is Sir Charles Thomas Mark Pizey is Admiral of Indian navy. He was appointed on 1 April 1955 and he was left on 21 July 1955.

As on 28 June 2016 current CNS is Admiral Sunil Lanba.

The Chief of the Naval Staff is the commander and the highest-ranking officer in the Indian Navy.

The position is abbreviated CNS in Indian Navy cables and communication, and usually held by a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral.

Detail:

Incumbent
Admiral Sunil Lanba
since 31 May 2016

Seat Central Secretariat
Appointer The President of India
Term length 3 years or at the age of 62, whichever is earlier.
Precursor Commander-in-Chief, Indian Navy
Formation 1 April 1955
First holder Admiral Sir Charles Thomas Mark Pizey
Deputy Vice Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral P Murugesan

List of chief of Indian navy:

Name Rank Appointment Date Left Office
Sir Charles Thomas Mark Pizey Admiral 01-Apr-55 21-Jul-55
Sir Stephen Hope Carlill Vice Admiral 21-Jul-55 21-Apr-58
Ram Dass Katari Vice Admiral 22-Apr-58 04-Jun-62
Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman Vice Admiral 04-Jun-62 03-Mar-66
Adhar Kumar Chatterji Admiral 03-Mar-66 28-Feb-70
Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda Admiral 28-Feb-70 28-Feb-73
Sourendra Nath Kohli Admiral 01-Mar-73 29-Feb-76
Jal Cursetji Admiral 01-Mar-76 01-Mar-79
Ronald Lynsdale Pereira Admiral 01-Mar-79 28-Feb-82
Oscar Stanley Dawson Admiral 01-Mar-82 30-Nov-84
Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani Admiral 01-Dec-84 30-Nov-87
Jayant Ganpat Nadkarni Admiral 01-Dec-87 30-Nov-90
Laxminarayan Ramdas Admiral 01-Dec-90 30-Sep-93
Vijai Singh Shekhawat Admiral 01-Oct-93 30-Sep-96
Vishnu Bhagwat Admiral 01-Oct-96 30-Dec-98
Sushil Kumar Admiral 30-Dec-98 29-Dec-01
Madhvendra Singh Admiral 29-Dec-01 31-Jul-04
Arun Prakash Admiral 31-Jul-04 31-Oct-06
Sureesh Mehta Admiral 31-Oct-06 31-Aug-09
Nirmal Kumar Verma Admiral 31-Aug-09 31-Aug-12
Devendra Kumar Joshi Admiral 31-Aug-12 26-Feb-14
Robin K Dhowan Admiral 17 April 2014 31-May-16
Sunil Lanba Admiral 31-May-16 To date