COUNTRY BEFORE SELF Extracts from book “G R A T I T U D E”

The recovered Out board motors and model of LTTE Suicide boat (to real size) which hit P418

By Admiral Ravindra 
C Wijegunaratne

Our Naval and Maritime Academy (NMA) situated in Trincomalee is the prime training establishment of officers and sailors of the Sri Lanka Navy. Brave young men and women who join our Navy either as Officers (Cadet entry, Sir John Kotalawala University entry, Direct entry, or Service entry) or as Sailors (Seaman branch, Engineering branch, Electrical engineering branch, Supply branch or Medical branch), they all undergo some part of their training at the NMA.
There is large sign at the entrance to the Commandant’s office at NMA. It reads;
The safety, honour and welfare of your country come first and every time. The honour, comfort and welfare of men you command come next. Your ease, comfort and safety come last and every time.”
This is known as ‘Chetwode motto’, the wise words of Field Marshal Sir Phillip Chetwode, GCB, OM, GCSI, KCMG, DSO, the Commander in Chief during the inauguration of Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun, Uttarakhand in 1932.
This is what we refer to as, ‘Country before self ’.
I was fortunate enough to work under former Foreign Minister, late Lakshman Kadirgamar, who was assassinated by an LTTE sniper. I was the Defence Adviser at the Sri Lanka High Commission in New Delhi, India at the time. Kadirgamar was a frequent traveler to New Delhi to brief Indian leaders on Sri Lankan matters. Whenever he was in New Delhi, he didn’t forget to speak to us at the Sri Lanka High Commission to motivate us. He always made it a point to speak to me and ask about the military training that India was offering us. In addition, he encouraged me to speak to the Defence Advisers and Attaches of other countries there were more than 100 Defence Advisers and Attaches in New Delhi to secure additional training berths for our military officers. The Minister was very keen on getting the best training available in the World for our military officers. Late Rear Admiral Rajan Kadirgamar was the Minister’s elder brother and he was the longest serving Commander of the Navy, with 10 years at the helm.
Kadirgamar used to tell me, “Ravi, your young officers should get the best naval training in the World, because their action out at sea could one day change the destiny of our country”. To be very frank, I never clearly understood what he meant until May 12, 2006.
At sunset on May 11, 2006, MV Pearl Cruise-ll departed from Trincomalee Harbour, carrying 710 military personnel on board. Her destination was Kankesanturai (KKS). 
These service personnel were returning to their military bases in the North after their leave. They would come to Trincomalee and then board the ship MV Pearl Cruise-ll, unarmed, to return to their respective camps in the North. There was no secure land route to travel Northern at the time. MV Pearl Cruise-ll sailed under the SLMM Flag, as there was a ceasefire agreement in force between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE. 
We had foreign ceasefire monitors on board. Six Fast Attack Craft (FAC) from our 4th Fast Attack Craft Squadron were escorting the MV Pearl Cruise II. There were ceasefire monitors on board one of the FACs also.
The escort Commander was young Lieutenant Commander (SSD) ELP Edirisinghe, who was the Officer in Command of FAC P 418, a qualified deep sea diver, and father of two young children. His second in Command was Sub Lieutenant RMDHS Rathnayake, who had just returned from Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth,UK.
Edirisinghe’s batchmates from General Sir John Kotalawala University, peers and subordinate officers knew him as a silent and very intelligent FAC Commander. 
His fellow officers who underwent the diving course in China with him described him as a family man. Edirisinghe’s dream was to build a house for his small family, for which he was collecting money.
On that day, the sea was unusually calm. It was two days before the Vesak Full Moon Poya day, the most sacred day for the Buddhists. Our sea convoy was sailing off Chalai, a few miles south of Point Pedro, at the first light of May 12, 2006. The FAC on scout duty in front of the convoy spotted and reported fifteen sea tiger boats off of Chalai. 
The Escort Commander had a sense that these fifteen sea tiger boats, gathering at the time of our voyage under the SLMM flag, were a danger. He immediately took initiative action to order the MV Pearl Cruise-ll to alter course and move seaward. FACs took up battle positions. At that moment, the Sea tiger boats launched the attack with their heavy guns mounted onboard. A fierce gun battle erupted at sea.
Lt Commander Edirisinghe led the manueuvering of his FACs commendably and began sinking the LTTE Sea tiger boats one by one. After all, this was what they had been trained for.
Suddenly, Edirisinghe noticed something surprising. In the middle of the gun battle one LTTE boat, of a different shape, was speeding towards the MV Pearl Cruise-ll, which was carrying 710 unarmed military personnel. He noticed that it was larger in size than the usual LTTE suicide boats and moving much faster with its four 200 HP outboard motor engines. Within no time Edirisinghe realized the clear and immediate danger.
This suicide boat had been specially designed to attack  Merchant Vessels such as the MV Pearl Cruise-ll. The lives of 710 military personnel were in imminent danger. There was no time to shoot or destroy the oncoming LTTE Suicide boat. Edirisinghe decided to perform the utmost selfless battle manoeuvre for a Naval Officer!
He increased his FAC speed and rammed the LTTE suicide boat which was heading towards the MV Pearl Cruise-ll. A huge explosion ensued and both the FAC and LTTE suicide boat perished. Other FAC commanders were stunned! Their Commander rammed the enemy suicide boat to save the lives of 710 Army, Navy and Air Force personnel, and foreign ceasefire monitors on board MV Pearl Cruise  -ll.
The sad news that Edirisinghe and his crew were no more was communicated to the Trincomalee Command Headquarters. As the Flag Officer Commanding Naval Fleet (FOCNF) at the time, I had the difficult task of conveying the news about the loss of Edirisinghe to his beloved wife, who was living at the Officers’ Married Quarters in Trincomalee at the time. Their two children were waiting for their father to return home, after sea duty, to light the Vesak lanterns they had made.
That was the day I fully realized what late Minister Kadirgamar once told me, “Ravi, one day, the actions of your naval officers out at sea will change the destiny of our country.” If Edirisinghe did not perform that noble duty, by sacrificing himself and his FAC crew of officers and sailors, 710 body bags of unarmed military personnel would have reached their homes on that Vesak Full Moon Poya day, in 2006. It could have caused another ‘July Riot’ and our country’s destiny would have changed forever.
“Country before self!”
Duty, honour, bravery and valor are the traditions of the Sri Lanka Navy!
Please remember this gallant Naval Officer and all other military personnel who made the supreme sacrifice and light a lamp in their memory.
The writer is Admiral Ravindra C Wijegunaratne, WV, RWP& Bar, RSP, VSV, USP, NI (M) (Pakistan), ndc, psn, Bsc., (Hons) (War Studies) (Karachi) MPhil (Madras)
Former Navy Commander and Former Chief of Defense Staff, Former Chairman, Trincomalee Petroleum Terminals Ltd., Former Managing Director Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, Former High Commissioner 
to Pakistan