From river survey work to wartime anti-submarine experience

Born in October 1911, Katari entered the first batch of Indian cadets aboard the training ship Dufferin in 1927, then progressed to independent river survey command. He applied for a Royal Indian Navy Reserve commission in mid-1939, with June given as a possible month rather than a securely established date. Wartime appointments included gunnery, boys' training, and anti-submarine schools, followed by service reported in both the Atlantic and Indian Ocean. The Atlantic portion remains provisional because the account relies on published sources and has not yet been checked against the relevant UK archival records. He became an acting lieutenant commander in September 1944 and held the substantive rank a year later. His command of HMIS Cauvery for mine clearance around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is provisionally placed from September 1945. In 1946 he helped select officers for retention in the peacetime navy, adding personnel judgment to his technical and operational experience.