and returned to India in August 1947. He was hand-picked by the handpicked by the Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy Commodore Martin Henry St. Leger Nott to head the Plans directorate as the Director of Naval Planning at Naval HQ in the rank of Commander. Among the officers serving under him in the directorate was Lieutenant Commander Nilakanta Krishnan. During this stint, he was the lead author of the Plan paper of 1948. In February 1949, he was appointed Commander (Executive Officer) of the flagship and replaced Commander Ram Dass Katari. In June 1950, he was promoted to the acting rank of Captain and appointed commanding officer of the Delhi. He was the first Indian officer to command the ship. He relinquished command, handing over to Captain S. G. Karmarkar in October 1950. In November 1950, Chatterji was appointed the Naval Adviser (NA) to the High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom. He served as the NA to High Commissioners V. K. Krishna Menon and B. G. Kher. He oversaw the training of hundreds naval cadets and junior officers in the UK. He was promoted to the substantive rank of captain on 30 June 1951. In December 1952, he was appointed Captain (D) 11th Destroyer Flotilla as well as the Commanding Officer of the lead destroyer of the squadron . But the orders were cancelled and he took command of the Delhi for the second time in January 1953. In mid-1953, to commemorate the Coronation of Elizabeth II, a massive Coronation review of the fleet was held at Portsmouth. The flagship INS Delhi, commanded by Chatterji, destroyer INS Ranjit, commanded by Commander Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda, and the frigate , commanded by Commander Nilakanta Krishnan, represented India at the review. A naval armada consisting of ships from the Indian Navy, Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy and the Royal New Zealand Navy sailed from Portsmouth to Gibraltar. The fleet carried out exercises along the way and was under the command of Lord Mountbatten. In November 1954, Chatterji was promoted to the acting rank of Commodore. This made him the fourth Indian naval officer to be promoted to this rank, after Ajitendu Chakraverti, Ram Dass Katari and Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman. He was appointed the Commodore-in-Charge Bombay (COMBAY), taking over from Chakraverti. The Bombay Command was the predecessor of the Western Naval Command. He held this appointment for two