Brilliant Navy officer, no more. Rear Admiral Udaya Bandara, VSV, USP, retired, who passed away a few days ago, leaves behind a legacy of innovation, dedication, and distinguished service to the nation and the Sri Lanka Navy.
This incident happened in 2006 when I was the Director of Naval Operations, Special Forces, and Maritime Surveillance under the then Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda. Udaya was the trusted Naval Assistant (NA) to the Commander.
We were going through a very hard time fighting LTTE Sea Tigers’ explosive-laden suicide boats, which our Fast Attack Crafts (FACs) and elite SBS’ Arrow Boats faced in littoral sea battles.
The brilliant Marine Engineer Commander (then) Chaminda Dissanayake, who was famously known for his “out of the box” thinking and superior technical skills in research and development, met me at my office at Naval Headquarters and showed me his blueprint for an “explosive-laden remotely controlled small boat” — which could easily fit into 18-foot Arrow Boats.
Udaya’s office (we called him “Bandi”), as Naval Assistant, was next to my office (Director of Naval Operations); both were very close to the Navy Commander’s office. I walked into Bandi’s office with Commander Dissa and showed him the blueprint and brilliant idea. Being a Marine Engineer par excellence, Bandi immediately understood the great design. I urged him to brief the Commander of the Navy along with Commander Dissa.
My burden was over! Bandi took over the project, and within a few weeks, we tested our first prototype “explosive-laden remotely controlled Arrow Boat” at sea off Coral Cove in Naval Base Trincomalee. It was a completely successful test. Bandi used his vast technical knowledge to do the “fine tunings” for the project and supervised the training of operators from elite SBS personnel.
These remotely controlled boats went out to sea with our SBS Arrow Boat fleet and had devastating effects against LTTE suicide boats and their small boat fleet. Thanks, Bandi, for your contribution. Now, the Admiral of the Fleet used to tell us during those days: “You cannot buy a Navy — you have to build one!”
We built our own small boat squadrons at our boatyards in Welisara and Trincomalee to bring LTTE Sea Tigers to their knees! The special boats squadron (SBS) and rapid action boat squadron (RABS) proved extremely effective with remotely controlled explosive-laden Arrow Boats in winning sea battles convincingly.
Bandi always preached, “The Navy is a technical service; we should give ALL SRI LANKA NAVY OFFICERS a TECHNICAL DEGREE AT OUR ACADEMY (BTech degree).” It did not get much attention here, but the Indian Navy, where Bandi graduated as a Marine Engineer at the Indian Navy Engineering College SLNS Sivaji in Lonavala, Pune, India, understood this idea well over two decades ago. The Indian Navy commissioned their new Naval Academy at Ezhimala (in Kerala State), the largest Naval Academy in Asia (campus covering 2,452 acres), starting their Naval officer training with a BTech degree, irrespective of branch.
Bandi’s technical expertise was not limited to the SLN. He was the pioneer of “Mini-Hydro Power Projects” in Sri Lanka, where these turbines sold their generated power to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), generating multi-million-rupee projects. When I was a young officer, he urged me to invest in one of these projects and advised, “Sir! As long as water flows through the turbines, you will get money from CEB, as CEB is always short of electricity.” I regret not heeding Bandi’s advice at the time.
When he worked under me as my senior Technical Officer while I was Commander Southern Naval Area, I noticed pencil marks on the walls of his chalet and asked him about them. He said it was his “pencil shooting training” — a drill practical pistol firers do to improve their skills. He practiced “draw and fire” drills and pencil shooting drills late into the night to become a top practical pistol shooter in the Sri Lanka Navy team. He didn’t stop there — he represented the Sri Lanka National Practical Pistol Firing Team and won international championships.
As Officer in charge of Technical Training in the Navy, he pursued Commander Fazal Mohammed (retired), his Divisional Officer when he was a cadet at our Academy in 1982, who was then working as Training Commander at the Sultan of Oman Royal Naval Academy. He trained Royal Oman Navy Engineering Artificers in Sri Lanka, especially on Fast Attack Craft main engine overhauls. The Royal Oman Navy Commander was so impressed with the knowledge acquired by the Artificers that he donated money to build a four-story accommodation building for the Sri Lanka Navy Naval and Maritime Academy, Trincomalee, now known as the “Oman Building.” The total credit for this project goes to Bandi.
Bandi’s wife was a senior judge at the Kegalle High Court and retired a few years ago. Their only child, a son, studied at the British School, Colombo, and followed his mother’s footsteps, becoming a lawyer.
Bandi was deeply devoted to his family and immensely proud of his son’s accomplishments, who is now a lawyer at the famous De Saram Law Firm, practicing intellectual property law.
When Bandi was due to retire in 2016 as a Rear Admiral and Director General Training, after a distinguished service of 34 years and reaching the retirement age of 55, I requested him to serve a few more years after joining the Naval Reserve Force. He had other plans, wanting to take his mini-hydro power projects to East African countries.
His demise after a very brief illness at age 64 was a shock to his family and friends. His funeral will be held today (27th) afternoon with full military honors befitting a Rear Admiral at his hometown, Aranayake.
Dear Bandi, the beautiful Sri Lanka Navy Naval and Maritime Academy in Trincomalee, which was built on your efforts, will serve Sri Lanka Navy officer trainees and sailors for a very long time and remember you forever.
May dear Bandi attain the supreme bliss of Nirvana!
