About the author
Franklin, AVSM, VSM, did his submarine training in Vladivostok, in the erstwhile USSR. He commissioned the third and the sixth of the eight 'Foxtrot' class submarines that the Indian Navy purchased, and sailed them from Latvia, to India round Africa in the late Sixties/early Seventies. After serving onboard these submarines for many years, he subsequently commanded two of them. After a few squadron appointments both afloat and ashore, he headed the submarine arm as Director Submarine Operations in Naval Headquarters. Among his other appointments in the Indian Navy, he commanded the Training Squadron training officer cadets of the Indian Navy, was Naval Assistant to the Chief of the Naval Staff, and the Naval Advisor to the Indian High Commissioner in the United Kingdom. A graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, he also served as Directing Staff in that institution. He did the higher command and staff course in the Marshal Grechkov Academy in Leningrad (St. Petersburg). He was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 1995 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2001 by the President of India. After retiring from the Navy after 36 years of commissioned service, he was a consultant for a brief spell to a private Indian company that produced a submarine control simulator for the Indian Navy. His e-mail address is jalvayu@hotmail.com
