A good student, he was awarded the Viceroy's gold medal for the best all-round cadet,[4] the Lawrence and Mayo prize for navigation and the Bombay Port Trust scholarship, when he graduated in December 1939.

He chose to join the British India Steam Navigation Company in February 1940 as a cadet.

He sailed on multiple ships, both in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, and to Penang, Singapore, Java and Hong Kong.

[7] On 16 December 1942, as soon as he turned twenty, Sarma joined the Royal Indian Naval Reserve (RINR), and was commissioned as a sub-lieutenant.

[8] After a short training, in April 1943, he was posted to the auxiliary patrol vessel HMIS Rukmavati as its navigating officer.

[15] After completing the course, where he stood second, he returned to India on the Black Swan-class sloop HMIS Cauvery (U10).

He worked under two Chiefs of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy – Commodores M. H. St. L. Nott and Ajitendu Chakraverti.

In January 1949, he was posted to the newly established Joint Services Wing (JSW), Dehradun.

He was posted as Staff Officer (Operations) to the Commodore-in-Charge Bombay (COMBAY) Rear Admiral B. S. Soman.

[26] After a three-year stint as Deputy naval adviser, Sarma was promoted to captain on 31 December 1964 and was appointed commanding officer of the frigate INS Brahmaputra (1957).

[32] Sarma was promoted to acting rear admiral and appointed Senior Directing Staff (SDS) at the National Defence College (NDC), New Delhi on 6 January 1971.

Thousands of East Pakistanis died, and nearly ten million refugees fled to West Bengal, an adjacent Indian state.

[35] In September 1971, Sarma was summoned by the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral S M Nanda who told him that he was to move to Visakhapatnam and take up command of the yet-to-be-formed Eastern Fleet.

Rear Admiral Sarma took over as the Founding Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF).

Alizé and Hawker Sea Hawk aircraft from the INS Vikrant and the ships of the fleet bombarded Chittagong and Cox's Bazar.

[40] The air strikes of Vikrant resulted in the sinking or rendering useless 11 merchant ships totalling 56,914 tons.

For his command of the Eastern Fleet in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Sarma was decorated with the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) on 26 January 1972.

He has displayed outstanding leadership and ability in the conduct of his duties as Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet.

After commanding the Eastern Fleet for about two years, Sarma was appointed Director General Naval Dockyard Expansion Scheme (DG-NDES) in 1973, taking over from Rear Admiral P. S. Mahindroo.

[52] On 18 December 2020, Sarma was felicitated by eminent citizens of Odisha for his role in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

[54] On 13 December 2021, Sarma travelled to Delhi, where he laid a wreath at the National War Memorial on behalf of the Indian Navy, and also wrote a message in the electronic visitors' book there.

[57] On the first anniversary of his death, the Odisha Chapter of the Navy Foundation instituted the VAdm SH Sarma Memorial Seminar.