NOVEMBER NOVEMBER THREE (NN 3) DESIG 68 NAVY – TWO RETIREMENTS AND COMPLETION OF A SERIAL

In the Navy, the phrase ‘November November Three’ (NN 3) is (or more correctly was ‘in our times’) the code to signal the completion of a serial, an exercise, an evolution or a training session. Used in flag hoists or over radio circuits where brevity is important, it had become, over a period of time, shorthand in naval parlance to indicate the success of a mission, completion of a task or fulfilment of an objective. It is a typically understated way of saying that ‘the work is done’. ‘Desig’ is used as a preposition of sorts to indicate that everything that follows it is ‘plain language’ (not coded) or to be taken for what it is.

On 31 July, two of our coursemates Vice Admiral SJ Singh (SJ from hereon) and Cmde Hemant Khatri (Khatri from hereon) superannuated from their assignments as the Flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Western Naval Command (FOCinC, WNC) and Chairman and Managing Director, Hindustan Shipyard Limited (CMD, HSL) respectively. To many of us in the course it marked the end of our active association with the Indian Navy or Government Service. The more perceptive among us may point out that the esteemed Vice Adm V Srinivas (68 NDA and 70th Navy) is still in service and the indefatigable Rear Admiral Rajesh Singh is still serving as the Defence Adviser in the State Bank of India. It is true and so it is true that many other coursemates - unlike this writer - are still working profitably and productively in different organizations. Yet, this occasion marks an inflection point in our lives from where we will now look back at the service with nostalgia and affection. We have seamlessly segued into past tense, as it happens with everyone at some point in life, as a rite of passage.

Nostalgia apart, the association that we have built from 40 years ago ‘jab we met’ will cherish this moment because the officers who ‘hung their uniforms’ yesterday were two of our brightest and best and, therefore, fitting Ambassadors of our course. As top-notch professionals and outstanding achievers, we felt that they represented us and we owned them. We cheered their triumphs, savoured their successes and felt possessive about them. We benchmarked ourselves against them and aimed to be somewhat like ‘what they were’. We boasted about them and let it know they were ‘our coursemates’ in a very proprietorial way. They were our gold standard and pole stars.For sure, other courses will similarly toast their top performers; but to us, these two were also - due to their personal qualities - something more.

They were both similar and different in many ways. SJ, tall at 6 Foot 2, slim as a knife, always sharply dressed, walked with purpose and spoke with a clipped accent. He had a swagger about him and radiated an aura that was often intimidating to peers and juniors. In contrast, Khatri was avuncular, earnest, had a school boyish demeanour, essayed a nerdy professorial look and spoke with a distinct Hindi drawl. Simplicity was Khatri’s charm, if dash was SJ’s style. And yet, by God, both were ‘mentally awake and morally straight’ as enjoined by the NDA prayer that they recited together in the Foxtrot Squadron more than four decades ago. History was kind to us that these two gentlemen, representing two related yet distinct and different domains, carried the baton for us until the very end.

SJ was the executive officer, the operations ace. As the top boss of the Navy’s sword arm, he made sure that the blade was sharp, swift and sure. Khatri was the tech whiz in-charge of shipbuilding and adding to Navy’s Fleet strength. SJ operated from Mumbai as the King of the Western Seas; Khatri built ships on the Eastern seaboard in Visakhapatnam. Together, they contributed to the Navy and the Nation. Both of them demitted office on a high. SJ earning kudos for keeping his flock aggressively deployed, poised and ready for action in ‘Op Sindoor’ and Khatri for delivering INS Nistar, a new state of the art Diving Support Vessel, just two weeks ago.

SJ had an operationally intense tenure of nearly 20 months. From Operation Sankalp at the beginning of his innings to Operation Sindoor towards the end he had a busy catalogue. Expectedly, his relentless focus was on Operations, on keeping the Command taut and combat ready. A hard taskmaster who expected the utmost from his ‘men and machines’, he drove WNC to become the principal vector of Indian Navy’s operational design. Though he hates publicity of any sort, by virtue of his assignments in key positions and achievements over a period of time, he has been in the limelight. Khatri, on the other hand, is somewhat less known. So, let me dwell a bit more on him. Joining HSL as Director (Strategic Projects) in Apr 2017, Khatri was elevated as Chairman & Managing Director in Sep 2020. He has, thus, been associated with the shipyard for eight long years in leadership roles.

If one were to describe what Khatri did in one sentence, it is this: under his leadership, the Shipyard was completely turned around and transformed from a loss making into a profit-making organization with positive net worth more than Rs. 400 Cr after 43 long years (since 1982). But we need to elaborate a bit more to further delineate what he achieved. Even if it involves some technical detail. (Caveat – statistical information taken from open sources, interpretation mine). First, significant reforms were undertaken across all the shipyard verticals to retool from traditional ‘PSU Culture’ to ‘Corporate Culture’. Each of these arenas - technology, quality, safety, financial prudence, business outlook, diversification, HR management, skill development, CSR, corporate work culture – were given his personal attention. Changes were incorporated at each level of the management hierarchy to get the shipyard to meet challenges in a competitive environment and catapult it into ‘industry 4.0 standards’.

All of this resulted in significantly enhanced order book position (crossing Rs. 21000 crores, the highest in HSL’s history), profitability boost (record profit levels over last 04years from minus 84 Cr in 2020-21 to 214 Cr in 2024-25) and highest ever total income of Rs.1783 Cr. since inception in FY 2024-25. Thus, HSL’s net worth turned positive from minus 595 Cr in 2020-21 to plus 493 Cr in 2024-25. Under him, the largest shipbuilding contract worth about Rs 19,000 Cr for construction of five Fleet Support Ships was signed with Indian Navy in Aug 2023. Further, more than 100 vessels for Navy, Coast Guard, SCI, DCI, ONGC were repaired/refitted without any time & cost overrun under his watch.

The other reforms undertaken by him include plans for major infrastructure augmentation, drastic cut in procurement processing time (apparently by 40%), resulting in improved delivery timelines, promoting energy-efficient technologies and green practices within the yard and reduced debt dependency steering HSL, significantly, towards near zero-debt status. He also realised the value of partnerships and strategic collaborations. His innings saw more than 40 MOUs with perspective collaborators, business giants and industry partners all geared towards profitability and transformation. His finest contribution may have been in the field of mentoring; he created ‘three hundred leaders’ to take the company forward. The great Walchand Hirachand, my personal hero and founder of HSL, would indeed be smiling in the heavens above.

So, we come back to these two gentlemen SJ and Khatri and what they represent. For us, in the 68th Course Navy, it is wonderful to have these ‘Ratnas’. They have been a great advertisement for the course and their superannuation is an occasion for much reflection and celebration. I may be partisan as a coursemate and having had the privilege of close friendship with both, may be blind to their biases. As human beings, they had their flaws and quirks, they were not perfect. And, perhaps, some who faced the rough end of their ire (especially SJ’s) may not nurse the best of memories. Yet what can be said without doubt, about both is that - apart from their professional acumen - they were accessible, spartan and simple individuals. Above all, both of them steered True North in their conduct and deportment. This was most evident yesterday when SJ drove off from the Navy house in his car, sans ceremony, quietly without any fuss. Almost reminding one of another legend VAdm VEC (Bambi) Barboza who, legend has it, drove off without anyone in the Navy knowing about it. Except that, in this case, there were a few friends and coursemates to see SJ off.

In India, the first Sunday of August, is celebrated as the friendship day. Two days from now, we might raise a toast to this occasion. But in the ‘fauj’ you don’t need occasions or days to celebrate friendship. It is a part of our operating system. You do not make friends in the Navy, the Navy issues them to you. Ours is a friendship forced by circumstances and forged in camaraderie. While a separate essay on our course is overdue, it bears mention that 40 years plus seemed to pass by in a wink. As the last of our flag bearers crossed the finish line it’s time for us to say that our time is up and our work is done. Yesterday, at sunset, when SJ’s flag was hauled down from Middle Ground, it also had an invisible flag hoist of “November November Three, Desig 68 Navy”.

This morning waking up to a fresh dawn we heartily welcome SJ and Khatri to the retirees fold. We doff our hats to them and congratulate them on their splendid journeys. It is time for November November Eight (NN 8) or the commencement of a new chapter. And to my dear friend SJ, I cannot resist a parting shot. “You may be the seniormost officer in our course but you are now the junior most veteran. Get into the line and follow in the wake!”

Srikant Kesnur

PS: This piece was written on 1 August 2025 on the retirement of Vice Admiral SJ Singh and Commodore Hemant Khatri from the Indian Navy and Hindustan Shipyard Limited respectively. 1 August was also Friendship day!