The late Instructor Lieutenant Commander Somasiri Devendra, who passed away last week, was born on 17th April 1933 in Colombo. He was commissioned into the Royal Ceylon Navy in February 1960 with the rank of Instructor Lieutenant. He graduated from the University of Ceylon (Peradeniya) in 1955 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, reading English, History, and Economics.
In his own words, instructor officers who were recruited into the Royal Ceylon Navy to teach subjects such as English, History, Geography, and Mathematics—officers who held bachelor’s degrees—were referred to by other naval officers as “Schooleys”.
His primary task was to train officer cadets at the Naval and Maritime Academy (NMA), where he instructed them in the English language and English history. By the time he retired in 1976 after 16 years of service, he had attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander and served as the Commandant of the NMA.
In 1975, as Commandant of the NMA, he trained the 4th intake of officer cadets, which included two cadets from the Maldives. This batch, led by Admiral Thissara Samarasinghe—former Navy Commander and former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia—hosted Lt Commander Devendra and his wife, Dayadari, in Trincomalee a few months ago to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of that intake, who were recruited into the Sri Lanka Navy in 1975.
The present Commandant, Rear Admiral Rohan Joseph (the 40th Commandant of the NMA), also hosted Lt Cdr Devendra and Mrs Devendra shortly before this celebration, paying tribute to him as the 6th Commandant of the NMA.
Instructor Lt Commander Devendra joined the late Instructor Commander M.S.G. Perera on 15th January 1967 to establish a new Naval and Maritime Academy at the Naval Base in Trincomalee. The Academy was officially commissioned on 15th July that same year. These pioneers of the NMA laid the foundations for the training of officers and sailors in Sri Lanka.
After retiring from the Navy in 1976, Lt Commander Devendra joined the corporate sector and held several key positions: Director of various companies, Founding Director of the Colombo Stock Exchange, Chairman of the Colombo Brokers’ Association, and a panellist on the Chamber of Commerce Panel of Arbitrators.
He also served as Director General (CEO) of the Bandaranaike International Conference Hall and the Centre for International Studies during the period 1988–1990. Later, he worked abroad as Registrar of the Institute of Technological Studies in Sharjah, UAE.
Whether in Sri Lanka or abroad, his passion remained with naval history and maritime archaeology.
I vividly recall, as a junior officer, that Lt Commander Devendra was mobilised into the Sri Lanka Navy Volunteer Reserve in 1986 to serve as Deputy Director of Administration and Welfare at Naval Headquarters. He was assigned the task of rewriting the Sri Lanka Navy Orders (SLNOs)—the key guidelines for the Navy’s functioning. He also took on another assignment at the request of the then Navy Commander, the late Admiral Asoka Silva, to write the history of our Navy from 1937 to 1950.
Working in a small, document-filled room at Naval Headquarters, he continued this research under Admiral Ananda Silva until 1988. He later moved to Sydney, Australia, leaving all his drafts with the new Navy Commander, Admiral Clancy Fernando—who was tragically assassinated by an LTTE motorcycle suicide bomber on the morning of 16th November 1992.
But his efforts were not in vain. Upon his return to Sri Lanka, Admiral Mohan Samarasekara, then Navy Commander, encouraged him to complete his work. On 1st March 1995, he produced a beautifully bound blue book on the Navy’s post-WWII origins and its formal establishment as a Regular Force—the first line of defence of our island nation.
Lt Commander Devendra never sought recognition for his tireless work. In the foreword of his book, he paid tribute to a few naval officers from the Royal Navy, the Royal Ceylon Volunteer Naval Force, the Royal Ceylon Navy, and the Sri Lanka Navy, who had also attempted to document the Navy’s history.
Some of the notable names he acknowledged include Admiral Royce de Mel, Admiral Rajan Kadiragamar, Commander (C) E.P. Wickramasinghe (a WWII veteran awarded the Burma Star, former Commander of the Northern Area, and Chief Staff Officer – Operations at NHQ, and father of our former First Lady, Shiranthi Rajapaksa), Captain V.T.D. Amaratunga (father of former Foreign Secretary Mrs. Chiranganee Wagishwara), and Rear Admiral J. Jayasooriya (considered the father of the Hydrography Unit in Sri Lanka).
Such was the character of this remarkable man—always humble and never seeking credit, yet eager to honour others.
Another of Lt Cdr Devendra’s lifelong passions was maritime archaeology. His work in Galle Harbour beginning in 1993, and his contributions to establishing the Maritime Museum in Galle—now a must-visit site for anyone at Galle Fort—stand testament to this. His outstanding work on the ancient Dutch shipwreck Avondster is an exemplary contribution. He inspired and trained SLN diving officers and sailors in maritime heritage.
He was an internationally respected maritime archaeologist and the recipient of numerous accolades, including the Uruma Prasad Pranamaya (Guardian of the Heritage Award). Among the many books he authored, Record of Watercraft in Southern and Western Sri Lanka is a well-researched masterpiece. His publications, research papers, and books can easily be found online.
My close association with him began when I was Commander Southern Naval Area in 2006 and deepened when I was appointed Commander of the Navy on 11th July 2015. One of the first individuals I met was Instructor Lt Commander Somasiri Devendra. He was overjoyed and expressed a strong desire to publish a book on our Navy. He said, “We must have a Navy”—the very words spoken by Sir Ukwatte Jayasundara, Leader of the Senate, in Parliament on 3rd December 1950 when the Navy Act was presented. The Navy Act was passed on 9th December 1950.
The responsibility of coordinating the publication was entrusted to my capable Naval Assistant, Captain Rohan Joseph. The collaboration between them resulted in a book completed within two months, printed at the Naval Printing Unit, and launched on Navy Day—9th December 2015, the 65th Anniversary of the Sri Lanka Navy.
We will remember Instructor Lieutenant Commander Somasiri Devendra every time we read that book. As he said in its dedication: “This memoir is dedicated with respect and in gratitude to THE NAVY and to all the men and women who served—past, present, and yet to come!”
We stand with you, Madam Dayadari—his beloved wife of over six decades—and with your children, Nalaka and Mihiri, during this time of great sorrow.
May Instructor Lieutenant Commander Somasiri Devendra, the greatest naval historian our country has ever produced, attain the Supreme Bliss of Nirvana.
