Martin Henry St. Leger Nott

Commodore Martin Henry St. Leger Nott, DSO, OBE was an Officer in the Royal Indian Navy.

He was the first Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy after the Independence of India.

He died in a plane crash with his family at Mont Cardo, near Corsica, France, at the age of 43.

Nott was regarded as a visionary officer who worked to build the fledgling Indian Navy in her early years after Independence.

He is credited with drawing up the plans of the expansion of the RIN, having led the development of the first ten-year plan paper.

He was also regarded as an outstanding seaman, excellent staff officer and a great administrator.

As the Naval officer-in-charge Cochin, he saw potential and advocated the development and expansion of the naval base in Cochin.

Nott was born on 30 June 1904 to Major Lewis Herbert William Nott, an officer in the British Army and Hilda Mary Stephens.

Nott joined the Royal Indian Marine (RIM) at the age of 17 as a midshipman in 1921.

He was promoted to the rank of Sub-lieutenant on 15 October 1924.

He specialised in signals and communication and spent his early years based out of Bombay at HMIS Dalhousie.

After three years in the rank of Sub-Lieutenant, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 15 October 1927.

On 2 October 1934, the RIM was renamed Royal Indian Navy (RIN).

The next year, with 8 years service, he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander on 15 October 1935.

In the 1938 New Year Honours, Nott was awarded the Officer of the Order of the British Empire, Later that year, he was selected to attend the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, the staff course starting on 10 January 1939.

He was the only RIN officer to attend the course where he and Sir Gerald Gladstone, who rose to become the Commander-in-Chief, Far East Fleet were course-mates.

With the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Nott was appointed commanding officer of the auxiliary patrol vessel HMIS Ramdas.

Since the Ramdas was off Karachi, he was also in charge of the Karachi naval defence flotilla.

On 2 February 1940, he moved to Calcutta and took command of the survey ship HMIS Investigator and was in charge of the local naval defence flotilla.

In March, he took command of the Cornwallis-class sloop HMIS Pansy and was back in command of the Investigator in April.

In July, he moved to the Boys' training establishment at Karachi - HMIS Bahadur.

In August 1940, Italy invaded British Somaliland annexing it.

In February 1941, Nott was appointed on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station Admiral Sir Ralph Leatham.

The East Indies Station was headquartered at HMS Lanka in Colombo and Nott served as the liaison officer to the C-in-C.

In early 1941, Operation Appearance was being planned to re-take British Somaliland.

Nott played an important part in the arrangements for seaborne supplies for the advancing forces in Italian Somaliland.

On 19 April 1941, he was promoted to the acting rank of Commander.

For good services in operations off the coast of Italian East Africa, he was mentioned in dispatches on 30 September 1941.

He was appointed Staff Officer (Operations) to the Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf.

He subsequently moved to the Royal Naval base in the Persian Gulf - HMS Seabelle.

For his services in the Persian Gulf, he was mentioned in dispatches for the second time.

In September 1941, he moved to Naval headquarters as the Staff Officer (Plans).

During this tenure, on 28 May 1942, he was promoted to the substantive rank of commander.

He subsequently worked towards dealing with the menace of Japanese submarines in the Arabian Sea.

On 1 January 1944, Nott was promoted to the acting rank of Captain.

On 21 March 1944, he was appointed commanding officer of the modified Black Swan-class sloop HMIS Narbada, the flagship of the Royal Indian Navy.

He also directed the operations as the Senior Naval Commander of the bombarding force for Japanese positions on the Arakan coast.

The task force consisting of Narbada and the Black Swan-class sloop HMIS Jumna, was part of a larger British task force which bombarded Japanese positions at Isla Pulo at the entrance of the Malacca Strait.

For his courage, tenacity and devotion to duty in operations lasting four months, frequently performed under rapidly changing conditions and with difficult lines of communication, on the Arakan Coast, Nott was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

After the Surrender of Japan, the Narbada sailed to Andaman waters and Nott accepted the surrender of the Japanese Brigadier in command of the Car Nicobar garrison onboard the ship.