He is the first and only Chief of Naval Staff who was relieved from office while still serving and stripped of Admiral rank as punitive measure.

[3] During the 1971 Indo–Pak war his ship was in the escort groups for missile boats responsible for humbling the adversary.

He is an author of a number of papers, articles and has written two well known books, namely An Eye Opening as I Saw [2] and Betrayal of the Armed Forces – The Inside Truth [3] Vishnu Bhagwat was appointed chief of naval staff on 30 September 1996 and was relieved of office on 30 December 1998 under Article 310 of the Constitution of India.

Refusing to accept the Cabinet order, Admiral Bhagwat went public with his opposition to the government's decision.

[9] After Bhagwat's dismissal, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader J Jayalalitha, who had offered support to the ruling BJP-led coalition government at the centre, demanded that the former naval chief should be reinstated; Defence Minister George Fernandes should quit or be relieved of his portfolio; and a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe should be ordered.

J Jayalalitha met President K R Narayanan on 12 April 1999 and withdrew the 18-MP support to the Bharatiya Janata Party led coalition government.

This invited the ire of the Shiv Sena, a political party of India, and they gheraoed and assaulted Bhagwat.