Vice Admiral J T G Pereira (retd), Indian Navy's former Chief of Materials, died on Monday after a brief illness, family sources said.

Mumbai: Vice Admiral J T G Pereira (retd), Indian Navy's former Chief of Materials, died on Monday after a brief illness, family sources said. He was 97.

Vice Adm Pereira, who settled at Uran in adjoining Raigad district after his retirement in 1979, died at the coastal town in the wee hours, a former colleague said.

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JTG as he was known in Navy circles, was the Chief Staff Officer (Tech) of the Western Naval Command during the 1971 war. He was awarded the PVSM in the rank of Commodore for the outstanding performance of India's assets during the war.

Vice Adm Pereira joined the Royal Naval College Dartmouth, UK as a cadet in 1939 and graduated from the Royal Naval Engineering College Plymouth in Mechanical and Marine Engineering.

A year later he completed his post-graduation from Royal Naval College Greenwich, UK, in Advanced Engineering and Design Propulsion Systems. He was among the 15 selected from India for an Industrial Management Course conducted by France in Paris.

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During his four decade-long career in the Navy, he held with distinction many important appointments both ashore and at sea. He had also directed the R&D work for the Navy.

Born on February 13, 1923 at Kannur in Kerala, he served in the Mumbai's Naval Dockyard, first as the Industrial Manager and later as the Admiral Superintendent, and was instrumental in creating the shipyards Production Planning and Control Department.