Nanda was born on 10 October 1915 to Mathra Das, an office superintendent at the workshop of the Port Trust in Manora, Karachi and Pooran Devi.

[4] After the outbreak of World War II, he applied for a commission in the Royal Indian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RINVR).

Nanda was serving at the Signals School at HMIS Talwar when the Royal Indian Navy mutiny broke out in February 1946.

[15] She went on a cruise round the coasts of India, calling at Karwar, Cochin, Trincomalee, Madras, Vizag, Calcutta, Port Blair, Colombo and Calicut before returning to Bombay.

[17][18] On 30 June 1949, at the end of the goodwill mission, Nanda was promoted substantive lieutenant-commander and to the acting rank of Commander.

[24] In early 1952, Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by way of Kenya.

The Crown Colony-class cruiser HMS Nigeria (60) was being refitted and modernised in Birkenhead, Liverpool, to be commissioned as the Mysore.

INS Mysore was commissioned on 29 August 1957 by the High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit.

Nanda took the ship to the Mediterranean and subsequently paid an official visit to the port of Split in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

[32] Personally selected by the Defence Minister V K Krishna Menon, Nanda took over as the Director General Naval Dockyard Expansion Scheme (DG-NDES) on 1 October 1958.

[33] He extended the dimensions of the cruiser dock to accommodate the aircraft carrier HMS Hercules (R49) being acquired from the UK.

[36] In May 1962, Nanda was promoted to the acting rank of rear admiral and appointed Deputy Chief of Naval Staff.

[37][38] As DCNS, he was instrumental in obtaining permission and clearance from the Government of India (GOI) for the naval development of the port at Goa, which was recently annexed.

Promoted to substantive rear-admiral on 16 June 1964,[39] Nanda was appointed managing director of Mazagon Dock Limited in December 1964.

[40] For his distinguished service as MD of Mazagon Dock, he was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in January 1966.

Nanda was promoted to the rank of vice admiral and became the first Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) Western Naval Command.

[44][45][46] Nanda organised the Navy Week in December 1969 which culminated with the review of the Indian Naval Fleet by President V. V. Giri.

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

He feigned a defensive deployment southeast towards the Andaman Islands, instead moving his Eastern fleet northwards into the Bay of Bengal and enforcing a naval blockade against East Pakistan.

[52] The plan for the operations included towing the limited-range Vidyut-class missile boats, primarily designed for coastal defence, to about 250 nautical miles (460 km) south of Karachi during the day, out of range of the Pakistan Air Force aircraft.

[53] The missile boats then closed in on Karachi port at night and attacked naval targets as well as the oil tank farm at Keamari.

On the Eastern front, Nanda made the decision to deploy the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant into the shallower waters of the Gulf of Bengal off Dhaka, to prevent the risk of a submarine attack.

[55] The success of the naval blockades on two fronts is considered one of the primary factors in India's overwhelming victory during the war.

The marriage was harmonious and lasted all their lives, during which they were fated to suffer many vicissitudes together, ranging from the partition of India which uprooted them from their native land, to the heights of honour when Nanda became chief of the Indian Navy.

The couple were the parents of several children, including a son, Suresh Nanda (ex-naval officer and businessman) and Beena Mehra, wife of Major Pradeep Kumar Mehra, an army officer and polo enthusiast who founded and ran Usha Stud Farm on the outskirts of Delhi.

[60] The organization was surrounded by a controversy when Operation West End a sting-operation which aimed to expose corruption between India's defence ministry and Crown Corporation.

[62] The accident and the trial attracted a lot of media attention and became one of the cases that exemplified middle class India's frustration with rich and powerful people being able to circumvent the law.

[63] In the later years of his life, Nanda wrote his autobiography titled The Man Who Bombed Karachi: A Memoir.

[64] The book provides an insider's account and the reminisces how India adapted an inventive strategy to defeat Pakistan, and the 32 years of his naval career.

His funeral was marked with full military honours at Brar Square Crematorium in New Delhi and was attended by top brass of the Armed Forces.